


Trick or Treat?

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: AU Season Five, Dark Thursday, F/M, First Meetings, Halloween, Parties, Robin Hood - Freeform, Thirst AU, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24135028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Chloe meets an intriguing individual at a Halloween Party who later helps save her life.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

"Alright _Carlos_ ," Chloe said to Clark as she looked around the bottom floor of the Tri-Psi sorority house where currently a Halloween party was being held, "go mingle, see what you can find out, and I'll see you later."

"You're leaving me?" Clark asked, his eyes widening.

Chloe patted his chest and smirked, "I think you'll be okay," she lied, she planned on watching the train wreck from the other side of the room as she looked for material for her research on the Sorority house.

Oliver was across the room, searching for clues under the guise of mingling when a pretty blond caught his eye. He paused mid-sentence, then glanced at the guys he'd been talking to. "Anyway, we'll have to catch up some other time." He moved away from them even against his better instincts. He was there to try and figure out what was going on because he knew _something_ wasn't right with this sorority. But who said once and awhile one couldn't mix business with pleasure?

Keeping her eyes on Clark, Chloe made her way through the room, smirking and biting down on her bottom lip as she watched not one, not two, but three girls gather around him within seconds. Even if she didn't get herself a story, Chloe was sure the night would, at the very least, be amusing.

He watched her watching some guy across the room, dressed as...Zorro? He raised an eyebrow, then shrugged, moving toward her with a smile.

But Chloe's eyes were still on Clark as she made her way through the crowd, she didn't see him approaching her or even his smile, she just bumped right into him.

Instinctively he reached out and steadied her with his hands on her arms gently. "Easy there." He chuckled softly.

She blinked and looked up at him, her eyes widening a little, "sorry, I guess I wasn't watching where I was going?"

He met her eyes, the breath catching in his throat for a moment as he gazed at her. "It happens," he said finally.

Chloe smirked softly and nodded a little, "there is an unusually large number of people per square inch in here," she told him.

A smile tugged at his mouth. "First big party of the semester," he said with a shrug.

"Right," Chloe smiled, trying to play it cool, "besides, the tri-psis are known for throwing legendary parties," or something like that.

"I don't know. It's been kind of lacking if you ask me." He smiled at her again. "At least it was til about three minutes ago."

"Wow..." she raised her eyebrows and smirked, "next you're going to ask me if it hurt when I fell and I'm not even dressed as an angel."

At that, he blinked, then chuckled softly. "Beautiful _and_ snarky. I like it." He smirked back at her.

"Not easily intimidated, that's new," Chloe said, raising her eyebrows and cocking her head.

"On the contrary. I _like_ a challenge," he informed her with amusement.

"Well, Robin Hood," she said, eying his costume and smirking, "color me intrigued, I didn't expect to find much more than frat boys around here..."

"Sounds like you're used to having people fail to live up to your expectations," he surmised, raising an eyebrow at her.

"And what makes you say that exactly?" She asked, raising an eyebrow back at him as she studied him closely.

"Let's just call it a gut feeling," he said with some amount of amusement.

"Sure," Chloe told him, "any other gut feelings?"

Oliver grinned. "Yeah, actually. One." He leaned in a little. "That it's their loss."

Grinning softly, she glanced over toward Clark again without thinking about it and nodded, turning to look at Robin Hood again, "maybe I'll believe that eventually."

He followed her gaze over to Zorro, and studied him for a moment before shifting his gaze back to her. "Here's hoping," he told her, his voice growing quieter.

"Okay," Chloe said, eying him closely, "you're obviously not your usual party boy, you seem nice and smart, so what's the catch?"

Definitely a woman who'd been hurt, he decided, wondering if Zorro was the one who'd done the hurting. "No catch," he told her, holding his hands up and shaking his head. "But I am sort of hoping you'll dance with me."

Chloe paused for a moment then raised her eyebrows, nodding a little. It was Halloween after all, she might as well have some fun before she has to go and work on getting her story, "I suppose a dance won't hurt."

He smiled at that, holding his hand out to her. "Glad you agree," he teased softly.

She looked down at his hand then slid her hand in his, "you could always step on my feet and prove me wrong."

He chuckled, then shifted closer to her, sliding an arm around her waist and raising an eyebrow at her as he easily guided them into a dance. "I'll do my best to prove you right."

Chloe placed her hands on his shoulders and looked around one more time, frowning a little when she couldn't find Clark then shrugging it off a second later, he could handle a few girls trying to get in his pants. She smiled a little as she looked up at her dance partner, "so why Robin Hood?"

He shrugged a little, smiling back at her despite how distracted she seemed to be--something he definitely wasn't used to. "Childhood hero," he told her, watching her.

"Not bad," she told him, smiling a little more, somehow she had the feeling a guy who looked as good as this one seemed to wouldn't have looked at her twice if her top didn't show as much cleavage as it did and her skirt wasn't as short as it was, but the attention was good to have anyway.

"I'm Oliver," he told her, holding her gaze and smiling.

"Chloe," she told him, holding his gaze back, "do you go here?"

"No," he admitted. "Do you?"

"Yeah," she said, raising her eyebrows a little, "how did you hear about the party, then?"

"Word of mouth," he said with a slight shrug, studying her. "You're not a sorority girl." It wasn't a question.

Chloe wrinkled her nose, "that obvious?"

"Trust me, it's a good thing." He chuckled softly, grinning at her.

She relaxed a little at that then shrugged, nodding slightly, "I agree."

Oliver smiled. "Somehow you don't seem the type to enjoy these kinds of parties either."

"It's part of the college experience, right? Or something like that..." she told him, raising her eyebrows.

"I wouldn't actually know," he said lightly.

"You're not in college?" she asked, raising her eyebrows a little.

He shook his head a little, watching her. "After a short detour after high school, I started working," he admitted.

Chloe shrugged and nodded a little, "makes sense, what do you do?"

Oliver chewed the inside of his mouth for a minute, considering. "I'm in administration," he said finally.

"Fun," she said, raising her eyebrows and smirking, "you'd think you'd want to be in more parties like this."

"Parties get old after awhile," he responded with a twinkle in his eye.

"Had your share, then?" She smirked again, looking up at him.

"More than enough for one person," he told her, grinning as he held her gaze.

Chloe shrugged a little and raised an eyebrow, "intriguing." Seemed to be like a good enough word to go with when it came to this guy.

The music ended and he sighed inaudibly, knowing he needed to get back to work. "Thank you for the dance." He smiled and lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it lightly.

She raised her eyebrows and her eyes widened a little as she felt a sparkle of... something as he kissed her hand, "hm, yeah, you too."

Oliver gazed at her for a moment. "Do me a favor?"

"Yeah?" Chloe asked quietly, frowning a little.

"Just keep in mind not all guys are frat boys." He dipped his head a little. "And we're not all Zorro's either." He winked at her and then reluctantly moved away, through the crowd.

Chloe blinked a couple of times and watched as he walked away then took a deep breath, of course he didn't want anything else with her, she probably had talked way too much during the entire dance anyway, or done something else to scare him away. Sighing she shook her head and looked around the crowd once more, when she didn't see Clark, she started toward the stairs, back to her story, hopefully _that_ wouldn't let her down.

A few moments later, Lana caught sight of her, her eyes narrowing as she followed her into one of the small rooms. "Chloe? Looking for something?"

She paused and turned around, blinking, "Lana, hey," she paused but just for a second, "for you, actually, I thought I might find you here!"

"Well, congratulations. You did." She took a step toward her, smiling, though it didn't reach her eyes.

"I didn't think you'd be up for partying considering you weren't feeling all that well this morning," Chloe told her, forcing a smile.

"I'm feeling better," Lana told her. "Although I _am_ very hungry." Without warning, she leapt, grabbing Chloe by the throat and slamming her up against the wall before sinking her teeth into her throat.

"Lana wha--" Chloe's eyes widened as a sharp pain shot through her and she cried out as loudly as she could even as she tried to push Lana away from her.

She reached up, covering Chloe's mouth with her hand and shoving her head to the side, biting down harder.

" _Hey!_ " Oliver moved quickly, grabbing hold of the brunette and shoving her away from Chloe.

Chloe blinked and looked at her hero for just a second before her eyes rolled back and her knees gave under her.

He quickly wound his arms around her to keep her from falling, turning to look at the brunette with wide eyes.

Lana glared at him and hissed.

And then she jumped out the window.


	2. Chapter 2

Oliver made his way down the hall of Metropolis General Hospital, a worried expression on his face. He still wasn't entirely sure what the hell was going on--all he knew was that that brunette had _bitten_ Chloe then leapt out of a third story window. After that things had been a bit of a blur because Chloe had been unconscious and bleeding from the neck and he'd been a little more worried about her and getting her medical attention than he was about going after the brunette. He'd only been away from her ICU room long enough to arrange to take care of her medical bills while she was there and when he approached once more, he saw a familiar figure standing at her bedside.

His jaw tightened slightly and then his eyes narrowed as he saw the man pull a syringe out and inject her with it. " _Hey!_ " he shouted, barreling into the room.

Lex had just finished emptying the contents of the syringe into Chloe's chest when he heard the voice and stilled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the intruder and recognized him instantly.

"Get the hell away from her," Oliver ordered, advancing upon him and grabbing him by the shirt collar, shoving him backwards.

Lex grabbed Oliver's hands and pushed him away, "what are you doing here, Queen?"

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" he responded angrily. "Last time I checked you weren't exactly an MD."

At that moment, Chloe gasped, her eyes wide as she sat up straight instantly, looking down at the huge syringe stuck in her chest.

"Saving her life," Lex told Oliver, shoving him out of the way and walking back to Chloe, pulling the syringe out and looking down at her, "easy."

Oliver's jaw tensed as he glared at Lex, then turned his attention to Chloe. "You all right?"

"Lana," Chloe gasped, her eyes wide, "something is wrong with her, I have to tell Clark!" She told Lex, looking between the two men disoriented.

"You need to rest," Lex told her, forcing her to lay back down, "I'll talk to Clark."

Oliver moved over to her other side, shooting Lex a wary look as he fell silent, not sure who Lana or Clark were.

"Rest," he told Chloe again, then pulled his phone from his jacket and shot Oliver a warning look before making his way out the door.

He scowled at Lex's retreating form, then looked down at Chloe, his expression softening. "Are you all right?"

She watched Lex go for a moment then blinked a couple of times, focusing her attention on the man in front of her and frowning, his face was familiar, but she couldn't place him.

"Relax," he whispered, reaching down and buzzing for a nurse. "A nurse is on the way. You should be okay."

"Who are you?" She asked finally, rubbing her hand over her chest where she syringe had been.

"We uh--shared a dance earlier this evening," he said quietly, offering her a small, faint smile. He glanced up as a nurse hurried into the room and he blew out a breath, stepping away from her bed.

"Miss Sullivan? Are you feeling okay?" The woman's eyes were wide, shocked.

"Robin Hood?" Chloe asked, her mouth dry as she looked at him for a moment longer then at the nurse, still feeling out of it, "hm, yeah, just... dizzy." She told the woman, turning her attention to him once more.

He nodded a little. "Feel better," he told her, backing toward the door and lifting his hand in a wave.

"Wait," she called, watching as he walked out the door and trying to sit up even as the nurse placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her on the bed.

"I'm sure he'll be back, Miss Sullivan, now you need to rest." She told her.

Oliver didn't like leaving her without knowing for certain she'd be all right, but he still needed to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Before someone else got hurt.

* * *

"And this is our communications department, the auditorium in which you will be speaking is just down the hall," Metropolis University's Dean Cyrus O'Dell told Oliver as they entered the building.

Oliver nodded, glancing around the hallways and into the classrooms. "This is a nice building," he commented.

"Journalism is one of the of our biggest departments, many of the Daily Planet reporters came from MetU."

He pursed his lips, nodding once more. "A few of your students have gone on to work at the Gazette, as well," he commented, giving the man a sidelong glance.

"They have, we offer one of the best journalism programs in the country," he told Oliver, adjusting his tie nervously.

He offered the older man an easy smile. One of the things he hated most about being Oliver Queen was how self-conscious people tended to be around him. "I've heard wonderful things about it," he told him. "And I'm looking forward to addressing the student body tomorrow afternoon."

"We look forward to it too, thank you for wanting to speak to our students." The dean told him.

Chloe was making her way out of the MetU's Tribune, glancing at the files in her arms and sighing softly, being out for two days had seriously messed up her deadlines, she was late on the articles she was supposed to write for the university's newspaper as well as on her assignments and more importantly, she still had to finish her article for her interview at the Planet.

"It's no problem. I have some business to do while I'm in Metropolis, anyway, so the invitation and schedule worked out perfectly," Oliver told the other man.

Sighing she tucked her papers inside her binder and picked up the pace, she still had so much to do before the library closed, she had no time to waste. And just as she started rushing down the hallway, her shoulder connected against someone else's, _hard_ and sent her binder and papers flying all over the floor.

Oliver turned toward her instinctively as she ran into him, reaching out to steady her and his eyes widened ever-so-slightly as he recognized her. "We seem to keep running into each other. Literally," he said, his voice light as he offered her a small smile.

"Ow," Chloe said, then blinked, looking up then smiling a little, "I'm so sorry," she said, sincerely.

"You need to be more careful where you go, young lady," the dean told her sternly, then looked at Oliver, "I'm so sorry Mr. Queen, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, frowning slightly at the dean and looking back at Chloe. "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she assured him, reaching down and picking up her binder and papers before stilling as her eyes widened. Oliver. His name was _Oliver_. She hadn't been able to remember it after the hospital and now the dean had called him _Mr. Queen_ , which had been why he looked so familiar, he was none other than Oliver Queen, CEO of Star City's Queen Industries, and she was supposed to be covering his speech the very next morning.

He knelt down, as well, collecting some of her things before realizing she had frozen in place. "Chloe?" His eyebrows rose.

She blinked and looked at him, her eyes still wide, "I'm okay," she said, not remembering if she had answered him or not, "are you okay?" She asked, still kneeling on the floor and staring at him.

Oliver nodded slightly, holding her gaze. "I'm fine," he assured her, holding out her things.

"Thank you," she whispered to him, taking the papers as she moved to stand up, but keeping her eyes on his.

He rose to his feet, reaching down to help her up, as well. "You're welcome," he told her, his eyes locked on hers.

"Should we continue our tour, Mr. Queen?" The dean asked nervously.

Oliver blinked a couple of times, almost having forgotten about the other man entirely. "Uh, yeah, just give me a minute," he responded, nodding a little.

Chloe glanced at the dean who didn't look very happy at all, then focused her attention back at Oliver, taking a deep breath as she hugged her binder to her chest.

He pulled her aside with one hand resting lightly on her arm. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she told him quietly, again as she walked with him, "Clark said you took me to the hospital, thank you."

He smiled faintly, nodding. "Not a problem. I'm just glad you're okay," he said sincerely.

Chloe smiled softly and nodded, watching him, "I guess if I had realized who my mysterious hero was earlier, I would have at least sent you a thank you card."

Oliver shook his head. "Just at the right place at the right time. No thanks necessary." He winked at her and let his hand drop from her arm. "Just be careful out there."

Her heart skipped a beat as he winked at her and her face felt warmer, "I'll do my best."

He grinned and headed away, back toward the dean.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Chloe called after him, smirking softly.

He paused at that, then turned around tomorrow. "You're attending the speech?" He cocked his head to the side.

"I'm covering it," she said, smiling as she stood up straighter. It had been quite a battle to get to cover the speech and she had to take two extra filler articles to get it on top of her already huge workload, but now she knew it had been worth it.

A smile tugged at his mouth. "Then I'll see you tomorrow."

Chloe grinned softly and nodded, watching him for a moment before turning around and starting back on her way to the library, she had the feeling it was going to be that much harder to concentrate on everything she had to do.

* * *

She had been one of the first ones in Carter Hall the following morning and two hours later, once the speech was over, she felt like she had more than enough to write an amazing article covering all about it, but she wasn't done. She picked up her badge from her purse and flashed the security guard who then allowed her to make her way through the crowd and to the side of the podium and waited as Oliver finished talking to a couple of students who had approached him right after the speech.

He caught sight of her approaching and smiled at her as he met her eyes, then nodded at the young woman standing beside him already. He shook her hand and made his way over to Chloe, raising his eyebrows. "Did you fall asleep?" he teased.

"Might have nodded off a couple of times," she told him, smirking up at him.

"Ouch." He grinned involuntarily, his eyes bright.

"You're an amazing speaker," she told him sincerely, smiling up at him.

Oliver ducked his head a little at that, his cheeks growing warm. As many compliments as he tended to get, most of them weren't sincere. Far from it. "Thank you," he told her.

Chloe nodded a little and smiled up at him, "we can talk in there," she said, nodding at the door that lead to the backstage room, "it won't be as noisy."

He smiled and motioned for her to lead the way, opening the door for her once they reached it.

She smiled at him and stepped inside, walking over to a large conference table and placing her purse over it, "do you want some water?" She offered.

"Sure," he agreed, nodding a little and watching her intently.

Chloe nodded and walked over to a small fridge in the corner of the room and picked up two water bottles, bringing one over to him, "do you do this a lot?" She asked him.

"Give speeches at universities?" He raised his eyebrows, thanking her and taking the bottle of water. "On occasion, if I have time."

She nodded, pulling out a chair and sitting down, "it's nice, not a lot of people bother," she said sincerely, although she was wondering if he usually flirted with students wherever he was.

"I suppose not," he said quietly, studying her as he took a drink of water.

"Are you ready to start with the interview?" She asked, pulling out her voice recorder again.

Oliver smiled faintly, then nodded. "Absolutely."

Chloe stared at him for a moment, wanting to ask if he was sure, but considering she was about to interview Oliver Queen, she didn't want to take a chance, so with a deep breath she pulled out her notes and with one more look at him, she got into reporter mode and started asking her questions.

Nearly an hour later, he was leaning back in his chair, feeling more comfortable than he'd _ever_ felt with a reporter, ever. He sighed softly when his watch beeped, reminding him of his next appointment. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have a meeting across town in twenty minutes," he said.

"Oh," Chloe blinked and nodded a little, looking down at her list, "I think you answered everything important," she said sincerely, smiling at him as she turned her head to look up at him again.

"Well, if you happen to think of something else..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "Feel free to email or call." He smiled back at her.

"Thank you," she told him, her eyes a little wide as she took the card from him, "thank you for your time."

"You're welcome," he said quietly, holding her gaze.

She held his gaze back for a moment then looked away, pausing her voice recorder and blinking as she realized it was over fifty minutes, it didn't feel like they had been in there for longer than fifteen.

"It was good talking with you," Oliver said sincerely, reaching out to shake her hand.

She looked over at him then down at his hand, not hesitating before taking it, "it was good talking to you too," she told him, and although she had an amazing interview to transcribe, she had to admit she was a little disappointed at how professional the whole thing had been, but she couldn't really expect anything else, it wasn't Halloween anymore.

He gazed at her a moment longer, rubbing his thumb lightly over the back of her hand without thinking about it. "Have a good day."

"I will," she said quietly, her eyes still on him, "I hope you do too."

He smiled softly at that, resisting the urge to kiss the back of her hand as he'd done a few nights before, instead giving it a gentle squeeze before heading for the door.

She watched as he walked out of the room and sighed softly, looking back down at his card and idly wondering if he would even bother answering her emails if she ever sent him one.


	3. Chapter 3

  


Chloe took a deep breath and looked down at her screen as she reviewed her article on what had happened at the Tri-Psi party and about the vampire-like virus. She wished she could have just used the one she had written about Oliver Queen's speech instead, but she knew it was better if she used an unpublished article that hadn't been just handed to her and instead something original that she had searched and researched all on her own.

She was almost done with her proof-reading when a strong wind sent all of her research flying around her room and groaning, Chloe rolled her eyes, which immediately narrowed as she looked up to see her best friend standing there, "it's called _knocking_ Clark, you're picking it all up this time," she told him, annoyed.  
Clark offered her an apologetic smile and knelt down, gathering all the papers into a stack and handing them to her. "Sorry."

She took the papers from him and sat up, sighing, damn him and his smile, "what's going on?"

He moved over to sit down in the other chair by her desk. "Did you read this morning's Planet?" he asked, watching her.

"Of course," she told him, setting the papers back on her bed, "we have a new helper."

"I'm not so sure." He frowned a little.

"Okay?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, "what do you know that I don't?"

"I overheard some people talking," he said, leaning forward a little and looking worried. "Apparently this guy stole a necklace right off a woman's neck in the middle of the sidewalk before somehow shooting straight up into the sky and _vanishing_."

" _Stole_? Why would he steal when he was stopping muggers in the same night?" She asked, shaking her head.

"I have no idea," he admitted. "But something isn't adding up."

"Okay..." Chloe raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips together, thinking for a moment then turning back to her laptop, sending her article to the printer and when it started printing, she nodded at Clark, "proof read that for me and I'll start on some research on this guy."

He reached out and took the paper from the printer, nodding a little as he started to read over it.

She took a deep breath and bit down on her bottom lip, nodding a little as she started her research, she was quiet for a long moment as she read article after article, the problem with this guy was that he seemed to be fairly new at this and because of that, there weren't a lot of articles on him from credible sources, they were mostly blogs and tabloids and the more she read, the more they all sounded contradictory.

"I don't get it," she said finally, looking up at Clark.

He glanced up from her article, raising his eyebrows a little. "What'd you find?" he asked, handing back the proof-read paper to her.

"Thanks," she told him as she took it from him and set it aside, on top of the pile. "A lot of people seem to claim he's this big hero, who saved them from a fire, a mugger, a rapist, and the other half just keeps calling him a thief."

"It doesn't make any sense," he said with a frown. "Most people don't go around helping people _and_ stealing from them."

"This can't be random," she told him, "either this guy is seriously pissing some people off and having them start rumors like that about him, or he's actually doing both but if he's helping people he must have a reason to steal from them."

Clark frowned. "What reason could there be to commit theft, Chloe?"

"I don't know," she told him, smirking slightly then shrugging as she looked back at her laptop, "but I'm going to find out."

* * * 

Pauline Kahn read over the article once more, resting her elbows on her desk. Then she set it down and looked up at Chloe, raising her eyebrows. " _Vampires?_ "

Chloe winced a little at the tone in her voice, rubbing her sweaty palms against her skirt and pursing her lips together, "not... _literally_ , it's just a virus that manifested it's way in a manner similar to what fictional vampires seem to, they got sensitive to light and hm, drank blood..." she tried to sound as confident as she could, and although she knew it was the truth, saying that to the editor of the Planet sounded completely stupid.

Kahn studied her for a moment. "While you're not without talent in your writing, I'm afraid the Daily Planet has no room for tabloid nonsense about vampires." Her voice was cool and even. "Perhaps you should try for an internship with the _Inquisitor_ instead."

"But it's true!" She told her, her eyes widening a little as she sat up and stopped herself from covering her mouth because the words were way louder than she expected them to be, "Ms. Kahn, I know I could never print that article because I don't have enough evidence to back it up, but if you give me the opportunity I can come up with proof."

She sighed, pursing her lips. "Maybe next year, Miss Sullivan, once you've gotten a little more journalistic experience under your belt by writing for the Met U Tribune. But not now."

Chloe's face fell and she nodded, looking down as she stood up, "thank you for your time," she said politely.

"Good luck," she responded, tossing the article in the wastebasket beside her desk and returning to her computer.

She looked down at the wastebasket and her eyes teared up instantly, so she took a deep breath telling herself to keep it together as she turned around and walked out of the room as quickly as she could without running.

* * *

Oliver was on his way to a meeting in downtown Metropolis when he caught sight of a familiar blond sitting at a table outside. He smiled instantly, but it slipped when he saw her red-rimmed eyes. He slowed his pace, wondering why he was so concerned about someone he barely knew. Drawing in a breath, he moved over to the table quietly and sat down beside her. "Chloe?"

Chloe blinked, her eyes widening a little as she recognized his voice instantly, she had spent hours listening to it as she transcribed the speech and the interview after all. She rubbed her hands over her face quickly, even if she knew it was useless, then looked up at him, "Oliver?"

His eyes were filled with worry as he gazed at her. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

She took a deep breath and looked away again, "I-- nothing," she lied, shaking her head and looking at him once more, "I thought you'd be back in Star City by now."

He frowned a little at the obvious lie, but shook his head, as well. "Still doing some business in the city," he told her.

"Oh," she nodded, sniffing a little and trying for a smile, "I meant to email you a copy of the article, I haven't had the chance to yet."

Oliver hesitantly reached out and laid a hand over hers. "What's wrong?" he asked again, this time more softly.

Chloe stilled at the gesture and looked down at their hands, sighing softly and shaking her head, "I had an interview at the Planet," she whispered.

"For an internship?" he guessed, watching her carefully.

"Yeah..." she shrugged a little and looked at him, "it didn't go so well."

He was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said, his voice quiet, but sincere.

"Thank you," she told him quietly then sighed softly, looking back down at the table.

Oliver gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "This probably won't help, but sometimes when something you want doesn't happen, it's because there's something better coming along. Something you never even dreamed of."

"It doesn't get any better than the Planet," she told him quietly, looking at him again and smiling sadly, "but I appreciate it."

"Just don't close yourself off to the possibilities. You don't know what the future has in store for you." His voice was just as quiet and he reluctantly pulled his hand away.

"I won't," she told him quietly, nodding a little, "it's just that... the Planet has kind of been my dream since I was eight and I always thought that the second I got an interview, I'd be in."

Oliver gazed at her, nodding slightly, as well. "Yeah," he said softly.

"Sorry..." Chloe said quietly, "I'm just babbling."

"It's all right," he assured her, wishing there was something he could do. Then he paused. "If you want, I could make a couple calls, see if I can do anything." He glanced across the street toward the Daily Planet.

"No." She said quickly, shaking her head a little then taking a deep breath, "no, thank you, I want to get it on my own merit," this time, she added silently.

He paused at that, a little surprised at how quickly she turned down the offer. "Of course," he said, nodding a little.

Chloe smiled slightly and nodded at him, "it's kind of an important part to it."

Oliver held her gaze for a moment longer. "Are you okay?" he asked, pretty sure she wouldn't tell him even if she wasn't. It wasn't like they really knew each other that well. But he wanted to make sure before he just left her there. It just didn't feel right.

"I"ll be," she whispered quietly, trying for a smile, "I'm sure you have more important places to be."

He felt his chest tighten a little and he shook his head. "Do you need a ride back to your dorm?"

She was surprised by the offer, but shook her head too, "I've got my car, thanks."

"Is there anything I _can_ do? Buy you a cup of coffee or some lunch or something?" He frowned a little.

Chloe shook her head again and smiled slightly, but this time, it was a little more sincere. She guessed he probably wasn't used to people telling him no, "no, I'm okay, thank you for stopping, though."

"Sure," he said softly. "For the record...it's their loss."

"So you keep telling me," she told him quietly, smiling softly as her chest tightened as she remembered the conversation they had at the party.

He reached out and touched her hand once more, leaning closer to her. "You're gonna be okay, Chloe." There was certainty in his voice.

She raised her eyebrows a little at the certainty and she couldn't stop herself from nodding slightly as she unconsciously turned her hand and wrapped her fingers around his, "I know." She whispered quietly.

Oliver smiled softly at that, squeezing her hand a little.

Chloe smiled a little back at him, her cheeks flushing as she felt his hand tighten around hers, she couldn't help but wonder if he was just really nice or if he maybe just liked talking to her. She was gonna go with the first one, just in case. And then she felt awkward with the silence so she had to break it, "I will email you everything as soon as I get home."

"I appreciate that." He smiled once more, then sighed softly, rising to his feet. "Maybe I'll see you again before I head back to California since we keep running into each other."

She looked up at him and smiled a little, nodding as she wrapped her fingers back around her cup of now cold coffee, "yeah, maybe we will."

He held her gaze, feeling like there was something else he needed to say, but not sure what it was. "See you around," he said quietly.

"Bye," she told him quietly, smiling a little at him again.

Oliver nodded at her and slowly headed away, his chest feeling tight for reasons he didn't understand. He made it to the end of the block before turning around to look at her once more, then sighed softly.

He had a meeting he was already late to.

She would be fine.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dark Thursday**

Metropolis was in serious trouble. He didn't think twice before hopping on his jet once the chaos began. While part of him felt he should stay in his own city, he knew from his satellite images that the party had all begun in Kansas, and that's where it would have to be taken care of. And when it hadn't been taken care of by the Red-Blue Blur, what the people of the city had dubbed the local superhero, he figured that every once in awhile even superheroes needed a hand.

And now he stood on the roof of the Daily Planet, staring down at the chaos on the streets. People were fighting, running. Fires had broken out all over the city. He could hear people screaming in fear, saw a mob rushing toward the convenience store on the corner to either raid it for supplies or commit a group crime. He gritted his teeth and moved to stand on the edge of the building when he heard a frightened scream from a female somewhere below. He searched the crowd to see two men forcefully dragging a woman from the back of a limo.

His eyes narrowed a little more and without further hesitation, he anchored his bow to the roof and jumped.

Chloe was kicking and screaming as hard as she could, she'd been in the middle of downtown when the chaos started, all computers shut down and there was no such thing as electricity so she ran inside the Daily Planet, not even blinking twice as everyone else ran _out_ of it. The bigger the database the less chance it had of being corrupted... and then Clark had showed up and she had made some possibly questionable choices, but it didn't matter because kissing her best friend was far from as bad of a choice as running out of the building had been because from the looks of it, he wasn't the only one risking his life.

"Help!" She called as loud as she could wiggling and throwing punches as more guys than she could count grabbed her and started dragging her away from Lionel.

"Shut _up_ ," one of them ordered, smacking her hard across her face and then yanking at the buttons on her blouse as one of the other guys tugged her arms behind her back.

She cried out in pain this time more than fear as she felt her face burning and her shoulder popping out of its socket.

A second later she was released and the man who'd been holding her had a green arrow protruding from his shoulder as he cried out, falling to the ground, shaking from the taser shock.

"What the--" The other man began before one shot right into his shoulder, as well.

The other men that were gathered around turned to stare at the man in green leather.

"Who's next?" he challenged, his jaw set, his voice distorted.

Chloe glanced up, her vision blurry from tears that had come with the pain and stumbled backwards once she was released, a hand instinctively cupping her shoulder.

The men looked at each other and took off down the street, Oliver glaring after them. He moved over to the woman, his eyes widening a little behind his sunglasses. _No way_ , he thought. Except it was. The same woman he'd kept running into the last time he was in Metropolis. "Are you all right?"

She blinked away the tears and took a deep breath, her own eyes widening when she realized who it was, "Green Arrow?" She whispered.

"The one and only," he answered, moving closer to her. "You're not safe down here. Let's get you somewhere else. All right?"

Chloe nodded a little, the last thing she wanted was to be there on her own again. Still holding on to her arm, she took a step closer to him.

Oliver wound an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him gently. "Hold onto me with your good arm," he told her.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded slightly and wrapped her good arm around his neck, staring up at him, something about this felt oddly familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

He tightened his arm around her and hit the release button on his crossbow, sending them shooting straight up into the air.

She gasped and tightened her hold on him as much as she could with just one arm even as she instinctively hid her face against his neck, this was nothing like getting a ride from Clark.

He couldn't help but grin, holding onto her tightly until they were on the roof of the Daily Planet. "You can look now," he teased.

Chloe blinked and opened her eyes, looking around then up at him, "not exactly my usual way of traveling," she said, taking a deep breath.

"It's not most people's way of traveling." He flashed her a grin, backing away toward the edge of the roof once more. "You should be safe up here."

"Thank you," she whispered, looking at him, "good luck out there, if you need food or water or anything, I don't plan on leaving this building again."

"I think that's probably a good plan. You seem to attract trouble," he said without thinking, then turned and glided down a zip line to a building across the street.

She frowned and stepped forward, watching him as he vanished into thin air. It sounded like he knew her and seeing him come to rescue her _had_ felt incredibly familiar, but she knew she had never met the Green Arrow before-- and then it clicked, her eyes widening, she might not have met Green Arrow, but she _had_ met and been rescued by Robin Hood.

* * *

He landed hard on the roof of the Planet hours later, wincing as pain shot through his shoulder. He hissed a little, shutting his eyes and craning his neck to try and see the wound, but it was too far back. "Dammit," he whispered, grimacing. He looked down over the ledge, blowing out a breath. The chaos had calmed a little, but there were still things that needed to be done, more people that he needed to help. And not a sign of the Red-Blue Blur.

Chloe had been making trips up to the roof every half an hour or so, she was exhausted, but she didn't want to sleep and risk being caught by surprise, but the pain on her shoulder wasn't getting any better and it was draining her even more, which meant she had to focus. She grabbed a couple bottles of water from the editor's office, which she had broken into in hopes to find interesting articles to read and keep herself awake, and made her way up the stairs.

A sharp pain shot through her shoulder as she pushed the heavy fireproof door open and propped it open with her shoes, then stilled as she saw him, laying on the floor, "O-" she stopped herself, rushing toward him, "Arrow?"

He opened his eyes quickly, sitting up and wincing. "How's the shoulder?"

"Better than yours," she told him, eyes widening as she saw the blood dripping down the back of his arm, "what happened to you?"

Oliver glanced down and then back at her. "Knife," he admitted. "I'll live. It's not that deep."

"We should at least clean it up," she told him, holding out one of the water bottles toward him.

He took the bottle of water from her. "Thanks," he said, eyeing her uncertainly.

"Can you open this one too?" She asked, not wanting to force her shoulder.

"Sure," he said, taking it from her, as well, unscrewing the lid and handing it back.

"Thank you," she told him, looking at him for a full moment, wondering if she should just tell him she knew it was him, but if learning Clark's secret had taught her anything was that some people just weren't ready to trust others with things like that, and he had absolutely no reason to trust her to begin with. She stepped closer to him and knelt down on the floor, next to his shoulder, "I can clean it with water, but I'm sure they have first aid kits somewhere downstairs," she told him quietly, looking at the cut.

Oliver regarded her for a moment, then looked back down toward the streets. "I need to get back out there."

"How bad is it?" Chloe asked quietly, pouring some water over the cut and looking at it closely.

He winced. "Down there?"

"Yeah," she whispered, looking toward his face or his hood, anyway.

"Bad," he admitted, exhaling slowly.

"I'm glad you showed up," she said sincerely, pouring some more water over the cut.

Oliver turned his head to look at her. "I wish I had a way to get you to the hospital."

Chloe held her breath for a second, she could see his chin and... there was no way he was _not_ Oliver Queen, "I'm okay," she breathed, then smiled a little, "although if you know anything about popping shoulders back into place..."

He winced at that. "Turn around," he told her. "Face the ledge."

She set the bottle down and, still kneeling on the floor, did as he suggested, then sat back down on her heels.

"Brace yourself," he warned, his voice soft enough the distorter didn't even pick it up.

Chloe held her breath and nodded, doing her best to remain still, "okay," she whispered too, closing her eyes.

Oliver drew in a breath, gently resting one hand on her shoulder blade and taking hold of her arm with the other. "Sorry," he whispered before giving it a rough pull and snapping her shoulder back into place even as he grimaced.

Although she tried to stay quiet, she cried out, her back arching as she felt her bone shifting under his hand.

"Sorry," he said again, gently massaging her shoulder. "You're gonna need pain meds."

Her head fell forward, but she shifted, sitting down and nodding a little, "th-thank you," she breathed.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she told him, turning to look at him over her shoulder and smiling a little, "I never expected that to hurt that much."

"One of the more painful injuries to experience," he told her with a faint smile, then rose to his feet, holding his hand out to her to help her up.

She took his hand in her good and looked up at him as she stood up, "do you want to come downstairs so we can at least cover that cut up?"

He hesitated a moment, looking back down at the streets below.

"It could get infected, or someone could use it to hurt you more," she whispered, keeping her eyes on what she could see of his face.

He blew out a breath. She had a point. "Right," he said, nodding. "All right."

"C'mon," she told him quietly, keeping her eyes on him for a moment longer before starting back toward the door, picking up her shoes once she reached it and holding it open. Her arm was pounding and burning, but it didn't hurt as much as it had before.

He reached out and held open the door, his fingers grazing lightly over hers.

Chloe paused, the same spark she had felt when he kissed the back of her hand at that Halloween party all those months ago running through her at the simple touch. She looked up at him and pursed her lips together, "thanks," she said quietly, letting her hand linger for a moment longer before making her way inside.

Oliver stared at her for a moment, his chest tightening a little at the look she gave him. Swallowing hard, he followed her inside and down the stairwell, pausing momentarily when he remembered this was the place that had shattered her dream just a few months before. He winced a little, wishing he'd thought to deposit her on another rooftop instead of the Planet's.

"I broke into the editor's office," she told him, making her way down the stairs, "she had water and she has cereal bars and chocolate too, you should probably eat something," Chloe suggested, "hopefully she will have some kind of first aid kit."

A smirk touched his lips at that. "Breaking and entering. I usually stop your type," he teased.

Chloe paused and smirked at that, shrugging her one shoulder and glancing at him, "yeah, well I'm sure you've done some breaking and entering of your own, Mr. Arrow, to steal those pieces and give them back to their rightful owners."

Oliver froze in place, his eyes wide behind the sunglasses.

She stopped walking when she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore and turned around, looking up at him, "what? I'm a reporter, I've done my homework."

"I can see that. I'm just not sure why you did your homework on _me_ ," he said, still staring at her.

"Why not? You're very interesting," she told him, then turned around and continued down the stairs, "but don't worry, I did it for myself, and I don't plan on sharing it with anyone else."

He blinked, shaking his head and following her. "You're not?" There was more than a hint of skepticism in his voice.

"No," she told him, a smile on her lips but she didn't look back, "you're doing a lot of good, better if those people don't realize your goal or they might hide their artifacts better and that would just make your life harder."

His lips twitched. "You know, most reporters are only concerned with getting the scoop. Are you telling me you have a penchant for justice?"

At that, Chloe paused and looked at him over her shoulder, smirking a little before pushing the stairs door open, "this is the floor."

Oliver smirked involuntarily before following her once more. "So really. Why the interest in _me_?"

"Well, you showed up in my city a few months ago," she said, making her way down the hallway, "I wanted to know who you were."

"So what else have you discovered about me?"

Chloe paused and turned to look at him, shaking her head, "you don't really expect me to reveal all my secrets, do you? I mean, I barely know you..." She smirked again.

"Better than I know you, apparently," he responded.

"Well if you wanna know anything, you can ask, I'm not the masked vigilante here," she said sincerely, entering the room a second later.

He considered that as he followed her into the office, watching her for a moment as she looked around for a first aid kit. "Do you work here?" he asked curiously, wondering if she'd managed to get an internship there after all.

She paused at that and smiled a little, at least he remembered her for sure, "no, I wish."

"Oh." His voice dropped just a little, barely enough to be noticeable.

"Maybe someday," she told him, opening the cabinets and looking inside each one of them.

"Never know what the future may hold," he murmured, glancing around warily.

"We're in the forty-second floor, I don't think anyone will bother coming up this high," she told him, looking over at him.

Oliver glanced back at her, as well, for the first time noticing that her shirt was ripped in the front. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah," she told him, noticing his gaze and glancing down at herself, "you got there just in time."

He relaxed a little at that, nodding even as his jaw tightened. Now he sorta wished he'd shot the others just on principle.

"Finally," Chloe breathed, reaching deep inside a cabinet with her good arm and pulling out a first aid kit.

He watched her intently then moved a little closer. "Is there any aspirin in there?"

"Yeah," she told him, placing it on the desk, on top of a pile of paper and unzipping it.

"Good. You should take some. That's gonna hurt worse in the morning."

Chloe paused and frowned a little then shook her head, "maybe when this is over, I don't wanna risk passing out."

"No sedative effect to aspirin," he assured her.

"I'll be okay," Chloe assured him, smiling a little, "this shouldn't go on for much longer."

He raised his eyebrows. "What makes you so sure about that?"

"There is someone working on it," she told him, her voice quieter this time.

Oliver paused at that. "The Red-Blue Blur," he said, watching her.

Chloe lifted her head and looked up at him, raising her eyebrows.

"I did my homework," he said with a small smirk.

"Something we have in common," she told him, smiling slightly then focusing back on the first aid kit, trying not to think about what would happen if Clark didn't manage to set things right, or worse, if he never came back.

"It's gonna be okay," he couldn't help but tell her.

Apparently he couldn't help himself from reassuring her, even when he was pretending not to know her, "hopefully."

"It will be. I've got good instincts."

She smiled a little then picked up some bandage, "you should sit down, rest a little while I cover that up."

Oliver moved over to the chair and sank down into it, groaning a little involuntarily and letting his eyes shut for a brief moment. He was exhausted.

Chloe pursed her lips together and watched him for a moment, "you're completely human, aren't you?"

He blinked at that, cocking his head to look at her and raising his eyebrows even though she couldn't see him do it. "As opposed to what? Part-machine?"

She smiled a little at that and shook her head, walking over to his chair, "let's go with that."

Oliver ducked his head as she approached with bandages to cover the knife wound in his shoulder. So the Red-Blue Blur wasn't entirely human. He'd assumed he just had some kind of special ability, but Chloe's statement put everything into a whole new level of strangeness.

"Do you want to eat something?" She asked quietly, cleaning the cut once more with a piece of gauze.

"What've you got?" he asked, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Granola bars, cereal bars, kit-kats and snickers." She told him, lowering her head as she focused on the cut.

He grimaced a little, then shook his head. "I'll pass."

"Sorry," she told him, "it's whatever the editor has in her drawer."

"It's all right. I have an allergy," he told her with a shrug, grateful for the darkness of the power failure.

"Oh, to what?" She asked curiously, unable to stop herself, wondering if it was anything like Clark's allergy to meteor rocks.

"To peanuts," he said without really thinking about it.

"That must suck," she told him, making a mental note to check on Oliver Queen's allergies, she was sure she could easily hack his medical records, not that she had any doubts anymore, but still...

"You have no idea how many foods have peanuts or peanut oil in them," he responded, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly.

"What is the thing you wish you could eat the most that you can't?" She asked curiously.

"Rocky road," he said immediately. "Or peanut butter. Maybe both." After another moment, he slowly rose to his feet. "I need to get back out there. Thanks for patching me up."

Chloe blinked as he suddenly stood up and nodded a little, she didn't want him to leave, but she knew he had people to help, especially without Clark around, "no problem," she told him quietly, "if you get hurt or if you need anything, come back."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Take some aspirin," he told her seriously. "I'll come back to check on you." He started for the door.

"I will," she told him, "good luck and.. try to stay safe," she told him as she watched him walking out the door.

"You too," he said, pausing to turn and look at her once more before heading for the stairs.

She watched as the door closed and sighed softly, walking back to the window and looking outside, she just wished there was more she could do to help him instead of sitting there and hiding.


	5. Chapter 5

He didn't even know what time it was when he finally made his way back to the Daily Planet. All he knew was that the sun was now up and for the sake of protecting his identity, he needed to take cover. Fortunately, with the dawn, things on the streets had calmed down a great deal. As if the sun rising had reassured them the world would go on even if there was no electricity. His muscles and bones were tired from all the work he'd done, all the fights he'd broken up, all the crimes he'd stopped. But he'd promised the blond reporter he'd come back and check on her, and he wasn't going to let her down.

He made his way down the stairwell and toward the editor's office where he'd left her, wincing a little as the sun shone through the blinds from the windows. His chest tightened when he didn't see her, but then he spotted a lock of blond hair on the floor. His eyebrows furrowing, he moved around the desk and found her curled up asleep beneath it. His expression softened at the sight and he knelt down beside her, tugging his hood farther forward. "Hey," he said quietly, not touching her, not wanting to scare her by having her think he'd broken in and was going to harm her.

Chloe jerked awake even though he was quiet, her eyes opening wide and she moved to sit up but luckily remembered she was under a desk before her head could connect hard with the wood. She blinked and looked at him, "you're back."

"Easy." He watched her carefully, holding a hand out to help her out from under the desk. "We made it through the night."

She took his hand and crawled from under it then moved to stand up, "good, how are things out there?"

"Calmer," he told her. "The sun rose. That helped."

"You must be exhausted," she told him quietly, watching him closely, well as closely as she could anyway.

A smile tugged at his mouth. "Says the pot to the kettle." His voice was distorted, but still teasing. "How's the shoulder?"

"Sore, but better," she said sincerely, then smirked, "and I wasn't the one who spent the night out there helping people, I was just sitting here."

He smirked back at her. "Sometimes that's exhausting. Especially if you think the world is actually ending."

"Yeah, but I could just pass out any time I wanted. And I did, you couldn't." She walked over to the small fridge in the corner of the room. Even without electricity, it was still cooler than outside of it, "I went through some of the offices and I found food."

"Anything good?" he asked curiously, watching her.

"Some bread and lunchables," she told him, "I figured that would be safe for you."

He nodded a little, moving over to her and taking a lunchable from her with an amused smirk. "Thanks."

Chloe smiled a little at him and nodded, "and, orange juice and chocolate milk, people here eat like seven year olds, apparently."

He smirked at that. "It'll work for now," he told her.

She pulled out both bottles and set it on the desk, "it's still kinda cool."

Oliver glanced at her. "Which one do you want?" 

"I already had a bottle of juice, I'm good," she assured him, "you can have both."

He nodded, picking up the bottle of orange juice, unscrewing the lid and taking a long drink. He blinked when the lights suddenly all came on. "Well that's anti-climactic."

Chloe blinked and looked up, her eyes widening, her chest tight. Whatever Clark had done, it had worked.

He paused, watching her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she told him quietly, trying for a smile as she turned to look at him, "people will probably start coming in to work soon..."

He grimaced. "I need to get out of--"

Clark's eyes were wide as he pushed the door opened, he had heard Chloe's voice and didn't think twice before following it.

Chloe turned around, her own eyes wide as she saw him and without thinking twice, she walked up to him and threw her arms around his neck, "you're alive," she breathed.

Oliver turned to watch the exchange, eying the other man warily. He quietly set down the empty orange juice container and moved toward the door.

"Are you all right?" Clark hugged her as tightly as he dared.

"I'm okay," Chloe said, relieved as she pulled back to look up at him. But out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Oliver, well Green Arrow, leaving, "wait," she called, "it's okay."

He didn't really agree with that, so he shook his head. "I need to go. Get that shoulder looked at." He backed out into the hallway, heading for the stairs.

"Thank you," she told him, letting go of Clark and looking toward the door.

He nodded at her. "I'll see you around." A smirk tugged at his lips.

Chloe smiled a little at that, "I hope so," she called after him.

Clark watched him go warily, then looked at Chloe. "You met Green Arrow?"

She paused for a moment, biting down on her bottom lip before turning to face Clark, "he saved me."

His eyes widened a little. "From what?"

"I tried to get back to the dorm, there was a riot outside, some guys grabbed me but he helped me before anything bad happened," she told him, smiling a little.

He frowned worriedly. "What did he mean about your shoulder?"

She reached up and cupped her shoulder unconsciously, "I dislocated it, he popped it back into place for me."

Clark stared at her with wide eyes. "He could have seriously hurt you!" 

"I'm okay," she assured him, smiling softly at his concern, "it was hurting a lot, it's better now."

"We should get you to a hospital just to make sure," he said worriedly.

Chloe shook her head, "the hospitals will be filled with people who need doctors a lot more than I do, Clark."

He swallowed hard at that. "I should have been here." 

"You were saving all of us," she told him quietly, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered, searching her eyes. "I'm just glad you're all right."

"I am," she told him, looking up at him and smiling awkwardly, "although I guess I owe you an apology."

His eyebrows furrowed at that. "For what?" 

"For, well," she pursed her lips together, "planting one on you when I thought the world was ending."

"Right." He swallowed, looking uncertain suddenly. "I mean, no big deal. Just one of those things. We both know it didn't mean anything."

"Right," Chloe echoed, her chest tightening, "didn't mean anything," she said quietly then shook her head, taking a deep breath and grabbing her purse, "we should get out of here before employees start showing up," she told him, hesitating for a second then sticking a folder in her purse. 

"I mean, like you said, you thought the world was ending." Clark swallowed nervously, glancing toward the door. "Let's get out of here."

She nodded a little, "yeah, let's go and let's just, forget about it, okay?"

"Good idea," he agreed, nodding as well and heading out the door. "I don't suppose you found out anything more on the green guy?"

"Not much other than the fact that he is definitely one of the good guys," she lied, smiling a little to herself as she ducked out of the room.

"Well, if he helped you out that earns him some points in my book." Clark glanced at her sideways.

"I'm glad," she told him quietly, glancing at him too, "he deserves them."

Noticing something was a little off with her, he frowned. "You sure you're all right, Chlo?"

"I'm okay," she assured him, "just... exhausted and decaffeinated."

"Let's get you home and then we'll get you some coffee," he suggested.

"Thanks, Clark," she told him quietly, "and you should get some rest too," she said, "the city will probably need you until everything is back to normal."

He nodded slightly at that, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and tugging her to his side protectively as they headed down the steps together.

Oliver watched from the roof of the Planet as Chloe and the mystery guy made their way out of the building a few moments later. Then he fired a zip line to the clock tower, wincing as pain throbbed in his shoulder. Fortunately, his home away from home was fairly close.

* * *

Chloe knew it was stupid to drive off campus just to buy coffee and newspaper, but she just couldn't help herself, she had some time before her next class and the coffee by the old man at the newsstand just tasted better, besides, it put her in the heart of downtown Metropolis and she loved that part of town, especially during the week where everyone was walking around in their suits.

"Thank you," she told the man with a smile as she took her coffee and folded her copy of the Planet under her arm.

"I'll see you tomorrow, miss." He answered with a smile.

Oliver was glancing across the street as he rounded the corner, bumping into someone and wincing as pain flashed through his injured shoulder. He quickly reached out to steady the other person, his eyes widening a little when he realized he'd just run into Chloe. _Again._

She winced too as someone hit her bad shoulder, which had gotten a lot better in the past couple of days, but was still sore, "Sor--" she started, then stopped, her heart skipping a beat as she looked up and saw the one person she kept hoping she'd run into, "Oliver?"

He gave her an easy smile. "Long time no see," he said lightly. "How are you, Chloe?"

Not _that_ long, she thought to herself, then smiled up at him, nodding a little, "I'm okay, how are you?"

"I'm good." He winced as he looked down and realized he'd made her spill half her coffee when he'd bumped into her. Resting a hand on her uninjured arm without really thinking about it, he looked at the old man selling coffee. "Whatever she just ordered, on me." He pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it over to him.

Chloe had been so distracted by the fact she had run right _into_ Oliver again, she barely even noticed the fact that her coffee cup slipped from her hand, she shook her head a little, "you don't have to do that."

"Yeah, I do. I made you drop it." He smiled faintly and handed her the new cup, refusing the change when the old man started to hand it back. "Are you all right?"

"Thank you," she told him, smiling at the old man then up at Oliver again, "I'm okay."

Oliver nodded a little, searching her eyes. "How have things been for you?"

Chloe sipped on her coffee and shrugged her good shoulder, "the same, still working at the Tribune," she told him, "how are things going for you?"

"Also the same." He paused for a moment. "In town again for some Queen Industries business."

"Is everything okay?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, "I mean with the blackouts and everything that happened..."

"Oh. Yeah, everything's fine," he said nodding a little and offering her a small smile. "Were you okay?"

"Yeah," Chloe chewed on the inside of her lip and grinned softly, "got to meet the Green Arrow during the chaos."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows at that. "So he's real?" 

"Very much so," she told him, her eyes bright, "but don't tell anyone I told you."

"Your secret's safe with me," he said with a small smile, meeting her eyes.

"Good to know," she told him, smiling up at him and holding his gaze.

Oliver was silent for a moment, watching her intently. "I was actually on my way to lunch," he began.

"Oh," she paused, raising her eyebrows, "business?"

"No, just lunch." He smiled at her. "I don't suppose you'd want to join me?"

Chloe paused at that and looked at him for a moment, "Oh," she raised her eyebrows a little, "...sure."

"Yeah?" Oliver smiled a bit more at that. "Anything in particular sound good?"

"Well, where were you going?" She asked, sipping on her coffee, glad she had ordered a small cup.

"I actually didn't have a specific place in mind," he admitted. "I was just going to walk until I found something."

"I know the area pretty well," she told him, pursing her lips together, she wondered if he somehow knew she knew, but there was no way he could know, "what kind of food are you in the mood for?"

"Anything, really," he said honestly, smiling as he glanced at her sideways. "I'm not too picky."

"There's a really nice Italian place a couple blocks away," she suggested, trying to be cool even if she was really nervous because Oliver Queen, no, _Green Arrow_ wanted to have lunch with _her_. And sure, it didn't mean anything, but still, it was a pretty big deal.

"I'll never turn down Italian," he said with a grin, offering her his arm.

She switched her cup to her other hand and smiled up at him, taking his arm, even if she knew this whole flirty playboy thing was an act, he did it extremely well.

"So how's school going?" he asked curiously as they walked, glancing at her.

And now she felt like a child. With a long sip of her coffee, she shrugged her good shoulder again, "not bad, hopefully I can be done with it in a year and half or so."

Oliver raised his eyebrows at that. "Let me guess. No summer breaks and class overload every semester?"

"Yep," she told him, smiling a little, "I'll have a life when I'm done."

He chuckled softly. "I see."

"Speaking of having a life," she said, looking up at him curiously, "do you usually crash sorority parties?"

That caught him off guard. "Occasionally I like to pretend I'm normal?"

And catching him off guard was exactly what she wanted, although that wasn't the response she expected, she guessed that between playing the rich and famous playboy, the CEO and the superhero, life was pretty busy for him, "I guess costume parties would make that easier on you."

"Well, no one recognized me," he admitted, nodding a little.

"That's true," she agreed, then raised her eyebrows, "although, no offense, but I don't think a lot of them would have known who you are to begin with."

A smile tugged at his mouth at that. "You're probably right about that. But I wouldn't have been able to blend in very well if I hadn't worn a costume, would I?"

"No, probably not," she said, raising her eyebrows, "besides, Robin Hood suits you."

Oliver paused at that, glancing at her again. "You think so?"

"Yeah," she told him, smiling up at him, pretending her words didn't have the double meaning they did have, "you looked good."

A grin tugged at his mouth. "Well, that school girl outfit you were wearing..." He raised his eyebrows. "Good doesn't come close enough as a word."

Her eyes widened a little at that and her face got hot, but she shook her head, "it wasn't just some school girl outfit, I was _Buffy_ , you know, the vampire slayer?" 

Oliver glanced at her, still grinning. "Yeah, well, you're much prettier than Buffy."

Chloe shook her head again and smiled at him, "thanks," she told him, blushing more and sipping on her coffee again, finishing it.

He was silent for a moment, very aware of her hand clutching onto his arm. "Hey uh--anything ever happen with Zorro?"

She raised her eyebrows at that, "what do you mean?"

He shrugged a little. "Seemed like you were interested in him," he said casually, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Chloe stared at him for a long moment then shook her head, pursing her lips together and looking away, "no, Clark is my best friend, anything else would be... messy." 

Clark. So that was his real name. And judging by her reaction, she definitely had more than platonic feelings for the guy. "That must be difficult." His voice grew softer.

"It's not a big deal," she told him, smiling softly. 

Somehow he had a feeling she was lying about that.

"Over here," she told him, tossing her cup in a trashcan and stopping in front of the restaurant, "it's small and family owned, but it's really good."

"Smells good," he told her with a small smile, opening the door for her.

"Hopefully you will like it," she said sincerely, taking a deep breath and stepping inside. Hopefully she could get through this entire meal without him realizing she knew too much.

"If it's half as good as the company, it'll be fantastic," he said.

Chloe smiled softly at that and squeezed his arm without thinking about it, it was hard to remind herself this was just part of his playboy persona when he sounded so convincing.

He smiled back at her, meeting her eyes and then following her inside and up to the hostess. "Table for two, please," he said politely.

The young woman's eyes widened a little. "Of--of course," she stammered. "Right this way."

She grinned softly at the woman's reaction and shook her head, "does that always happen?" Chloe whispered, looking up at him.

Oliver smiled, but it was a lot fainter this time. "Not _always_."

Pursing her lips together, she watched him and sat down across from him, "it must suck."

He shrugged a little, gazing at her. "Sometimes," he agreed quietly. "But I won't lie. It does have its advantages, too."

"Like getting a table at a restaurant no matter how busy they are?" She asked, smiling at him.

He smiled a bit, nodding. "Yeah, like that. And being able to help people."

"Well you do that a lot," Chloe said, smiling at him and raising her eyebrows.

Oliver paused at that, then nodded slightly. "I try to," he said quietly.

"There are a lot of people out there with as much money as you have and who don't do nearly as much as you do, Oliver," she said sincerely.

He relaxed once more, exhaling slowly as he gazed at her. "Sometimes it still doesn't seem like it's enough."

"Yeah," she said quietly, nodding, "I can understand that."

He held her gaze for a long moment.   
Chloe blinked and raised her eyebrows, looking at him, her heart beating fast, she couldn't help but wonder if he was about to tell her the truth.

"This uh--this might be inappropriate and if it is, feel free to tell me so, but...I've been thinking about you since that Halloween party," he admitted.

Not about to tell her his biggest, darkest secrets but somehow this was better than that, "oh?"

He nodded a little, watching her and trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"That's, hm," she started, knowing he was waiting for an answer, "unexpected." She blushed.

"Good unexpected or bad unexpected?" Oliver asked uncertainly.

"Good," she said, blinking and shaking her head, "good, of course it's good."

He smiled at that. "I like you," he told her quietly.

Chloe smiled too and shook her head a little, "I like you too," she said quietly, feeling silly as still tried to process the fact that Oliver Queen AKA Green Arrow was telling her that...

His smile brightened a little more. "Good, that's...that's good." He ducked his head a little.

"I definitely didn't expect you to even remember my name," she admitted.

"Maybe I can teach you to expect the unexpected." His eyes were bright.

"You kind of are already," she told him, smiling, her own eyes bright too.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe was _nervous_ , no nervous barely even covered it. She was incredibly anxious and had been all day. She had been since having lunch with Oliver the previous day where, in the end of it, he invited her to dinner on Friday night, meaning, tonight. She had not been able to concentrate on anything, she had been trying to figure out what to wear all day and while normally she would just call Lois and have her pick it for her, she didn't want to tell anyone about this because it was too good to be true and she felt like if she told anyone, she'd wake up and realize it had all been a dream or something, because men like Oliver Queen just didn't notice her.

She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror, wearing the dress she had originally put on, and looking back at the pile of clothes she had formed over her bed, it was always how it worked out but she _had_ to at least try all the other clothes, just to make sure.

Chloe wasn't the only one who was nervous. Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, raising his hand to knock on the door. He couldn't recall the last time he'd been nervous about a simple dinner date. He wasn't sure he'd _ever_ been nervous about a simple dinner date. But this wasn't just any date. This was with Chloe, and he actually really liked her. He stood still and silent, waiting for her to open the door.

When she heard him knocking, she stilled, raising her eyebrows and pursing her lips together, wincing, she looked around the incredible mess her room was at the moment, he could definitely _not_ come inside. She grabbed her purse and walked over to the door, holding her breath as she pulled it open, a nervous smile immediately appearing on her fase as she looked at him and damn, the man was gorgeous.

His eyes widened a little as he found himself staring at her. The green dress she wore accentuated all of her curves perfectly and brought out her eyes. "Wow," he whispered. "You look stunning." And he wasn't kidding. She was beautiful.

She had picked the green dress on purpose, both because it wasn't too skanky and because well, she knew he liked green, "thank you," she told him, blushing, "you look gorgeous too."

He smiled at her and then handed her the bouquet of flowers he'd had behind his back. "I wasn't sure what your favorite was," he admitted.

Chloe blinked and looked down at the bouquet and raised her eyebrows, "Oliver, you didn't have to do that..." she told him quietly, taking the flowers from him, she couldn't remember last time anyone had given her flowers when she _wasn't_ in the hospital.

Oliver's chest tightened a little at the surprise on her face. "You're someone who should definitely be getting flowers," he told her just as quietly.

She pursed her lips together and looked at him, grinning nervously and nodding slowly, "I hm, I should put them in water," she said shyly.

He smiled back at her, his eyes bright. "I'll wait here," he told her.

"Probably better," she told him quietly, "you definitely don't wanna come inside," she told him, smiling before disappearing inside the room and coming back a second later, "okay, done."

"Why wouldn't I want to come inside?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hiding bodies?" he teased.

"Well, if I am," she told him, stepping outside and closing the door behind herself and locking it, "you wouldn't be able to find them under all the clothes spread around the room."

Oliver chuckled at that, hesitantly holding his hand out to her. "I'll keep that in mind."

Chloe looked down at his hand, her heart skipping a beat as she slid her hand into his.

He smiled at her, sliding his fingers through hers and squeezing her hand gently. "Do you like Chinese food?" he asked, glancing at her sideways as they headed for the stairs.

"Yeah," she told him, smiling up at him as they started downstairs, not even noticing that a couple of people were whispering about them, mostly because she couldn't look away from him.

He nodded. "Great," he said, still smiling. "I heard good things about the Dragon's Lair a couple blocks from here. Have you been there?"

"No, I haven't," she admitted, "they are fairly new, opened about... two months ago," and were way out of her budget, "but I heard good things about them too."

"Well, let's hope they live up to our expectations." He gave her hand another squeeze.

"Hopefully they will," she told him, squeezing his hand back and grinning softly at him.

"If not, we could always take my jet to China," he joked, grinning back at her.

Chloe shook her head and smiled at him, "I'm sure we can find a good, local place to eat."

He winked at her, leading her out of the dormitory and out to his car. He let go of her hand and opened the door for her.

"Thank you," she told him, looking at him then sliding into his car, half wanting to pinch herself, she still couldn't believe she was on a date with Green Arrow. He was human, as far as she could tell, and he went out there every night to protect people. Clark had a destiny to fulfill, but this man, he was a real hero, an inspiration. And he was interested in _her_.

"You're welcome," he told her, closing the door behind her and moving to the driver's side. He slid into the car and started the engine, glancing at her sideways. "Ready?"

She nodded, smiling at him, her eyes bright, "yeah."

Oliver smiled back at her and pulled onto the street. So far it seemed like everything was going great.

* * *

By the time they ordered their food, Chloe had managed to relax and to stop staring at the man across from her. She reluctantly pulled her hand from his as the waiter set the plates in front of them, he was so easy to talk to, it was definitely the best date she'd ever had.

"This looks great," she told him, looking down at her plate.

"It smells good, too," he answered, grinning as he took a drink of his water.

"It does," she agreed, picking up her chopsticks and adjusting it over her fingers.

Oliver grinned and did the same, picking up a piece of eggroll and taking a bite.

Chloe picked up some of her noodles and took a bite, raising her eyebrows, "you need to try them," she told him, opening her mouth to tell him there were no peanuts in it then closing her mouth quickly and sipping on her water. That would have been _bad_.

"Is it good?" he asked, raising his eyebrows as well.

"It's amazing," she told him, nudging her plate closer to him.

Oliver hesitated. "Are there peanuts in it?"

She bit down on her lip hard, a little too hard to stop herself from smiling, "no, I don't think so, why?"

"Peanut allergy," he told her. "I hear it's a common thing, but uh, it's pretty serious in my case."

"Oh," Chloe nodded, sipping on her water and taking a deep breath to pull herself together, "that's... odd."

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "What is?"

"A hm, friend of mind just told me he had the same allergy a few days ago," she smiled softly at him, "I guess it is pretty common."

He froze at that for a moment, realizing his mistake. He chuckled nervously, picking up his glass of water and nodding a little, taking a long drink. _Smart, Queen._

Chloe bit on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smirking, "do you wanna try it or do you not want to risk it?" She said, deciding to stop torturing him.

He swallowed hard, glancing at the noodles. "It's tempting, but I probably shouldn't risk it," he said quietly.

"Okay," Chloe told him quietly, smiling a little then taking another bite.

Oliver watched her for a moment, finishing off his eggroll and chewing thoughtfully. "I liked your article." His voice was soft.

"Oh?" Chloe said, sipping in her water, "you did?"

He nodded. "I kept a copy of it." He smiled faintly and took another drink of his water, as well.

She grinned softly at that, blushing again, "you did?"

"Yeah." He watched her for a moment. "You're a good writer, Chloe."

"Thank you," she told him, "but in that case, you are the perfect interviewee." Chloe told him with a smile.

"You're the first reporter I've actually really liked," he informed her honestly.

Chloe grinned at that and raised her eyebrows, "best compliment I've heard all night, knowing you've been around a lot of us."

He smiled, gazing at her. "Let me try another then." He leaned in a little. "You also have the most beautiful eyes."

She blushed again and grinned more, leaning in too, "that's good too, but not as good," she told him, searching his eyes.

"Darn. It's still true though." He smiled softly at her, holding her gaze.

"Thank you," she told him sincerely, still smiling, her eyes bright and she really hoped there were no peanuts in her food, because he better kiss her at some point.

Oliver reached out and slid his fingers through hers, not taking his eyes off her.

She held on to his hand, squeezing it lightly and watching him, her heart beating fast against her chest.

"No, it's down a couple of blocks, that bank near the Daily Planet. There were workers still inside," someone said from somewhere behind them.

Chloe blinked at that, coming out of her reverie and looking behind Oliver's shoulder, her smile faltering.

His smile faltered, too, and he swallowed hard.

"I can hear the police sirens heading that way now."

Sure enough, Oliver could hear the wailing of sirens approaching and then quickly driving past.

Chloe's eyes widened a little, she had to warn Clark.

Oliver looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out some way to disengage so he could go find out what was going on and see if he could help, but he wasn't sure how.

She blinked, looking from the two women who were talking to Oliver and she could tell he was five seconds away from bolting to see what was happening, "I, hm, I need to walk over to the ladies," she told him, shifting, hopefully he wouldn't be enough of a gentleman to sit around and wait for her.

He nodded quickly, releasing her hand. "Of course." His heart was beating quickly against his chest and he watched her get up and head away before pulling some money out of his billfold. He motioned to the waiter and handed it to him. "If it's more than that, charge it to my account," he told the other man. "And if I'm not back soon..." He cast a glance toward the bathroom, wincing. He was about to blow it with her, and he damn well knew it. "Tell her I'm so sorry but something came up and I'll call her later."

The man's eyes widened and he nodded, taking the money, "no problem Mr. Queen."

Chloe poked her head out and watched as Oliver rushed away from the restaurant, smirking a little, she reached inside her purse then walked over to the bathroom, pulling her phone and hitting Clark's speed dial number, holding her breath, "it's me," she told him, "you have work to do."


	7. Chapter 7

Chloe had considered what to do for a long moment while she stood in the bathroom, on one hand, she didn't want Oliver to think she was mad at him, but on the other, she didn't want him to suspect she knew his secret and she knew this was probably going to take a while. With a deep breath, she waved her hand to get the attention of the man she had seen Ollie talking to and when he explained to her, she simply asked him to box their food and left the restaurant a few minutes later. She also wanted to know what was happening after all.

With the bag of food in hand, she started toward the bank, which was on the opposite side of the street and in the direction of her dorm. The situation seemed under control already, cop cars were still there, but as far as she could see, the hostages were coming out and the robbers were handcuffed, but better yet, there were no signs of Clark _or_ Oliver.

She glanced up at the rooftop of the bank, however and she could have sworn that she saw something, better yet, someone moving up there, but when even with the staring and squinting she couldn't tell for sure, she started walking again.

Oliver stood on the roof of the restaurant in full Green Arrow apparel, back far enough that he was fairly certain no one could see him. He'd let five arrows fly--enough to take care of all of the robbers, and all five of them had not only been deflected but _bent_ in half. He'd seen a flash of something from the corner of his eye and if his suspicions were correct, he'd just had his first 'encounter' with Metropolis' Red-Blue Blur.

He watched as the cops led the robbers handcuffed into police cars and escort them away.

Then he glanced back toward the restaurant and then up at the clock tower. He winced. Nearly an hour had passed. His chest tightened a little. So there went his shot with Chloe. Women didn't tend to like being left behind on dates.

Sighing softly, he shoulders dropped a little. Might as well spend the rest of the evening patrolling, he thought, despite the fact his shoulder was burning.

He'd live.

He always did.

Chloe was halfway to the dorm already and her feet were killing her, she wasn't exactly expecting to walk more than maybe five steps in those shoes. Sighing softly, she paused and looked up at the buildings again, she had also been hoping at least Green Arrow would spot her and stop by to say goodnight, but apparently he was still busy.

He hadn't made it very far when he spotted two men following a woman down the street. His eyes narrowed as he realized _who_ they were following. He leapt to the next rooftop, keeping his eye on the situation, and when he saw one of them pull a blade from his jacket, he took aim with his crossbow and fired two arrows, pinning both men to the wall behind them.

The only thing she heard was the whooshing sound from the arrows, her eyes widening as she turned around and saw not one, but two men pressed up against the wall, one had just dropped a knife and Chloe looked up for just a second before quickly reaching down and grabbing the knife, "guess you pissed someone off," she smirked at the men.

Oliver dropped soundlessly to the ground behind her. "I knew you were a magnet for trouble," he said with a smirk, his voice distorted.

"Lucky for me, you always seem to be watching," she told him, eying the two men still then smirking at Green Arrow, her heart skipping a beat as she realized that yes, he had been keeping an eye on her. That he cared enough to.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on you," he teased, shifting his gaze to the two men. "Don't worry. You won't be stuck there long. The cops are on their way."

"And I'll be keeping this," Chloe said, placing the knife in her purse, "souvenir," she told the men.

Oliver smirked again, amused by her snark despite yet another near-miss. There was no mistaking it--Chloe Sullivan was not your typical woman. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Chloe turned to look at Oliver, and smiled up at him, "thanks," she told him quietly, "but you probably shouldn't stick around until the cops get here."

"Neither should you," he told her.

"I'm not," she told him, smiling softly and shifting her purse and take out bag in her arms, "I have about a block and half to go." She told him, hoping he'd come with her, although she wasn't sure how smart it was for him to walk closer to campus.

He considered her for a moment. "You could get in a lot of trouble in a block and a half. You want a ride?"

Her eyes brightened at the offer and she looked up at him, nodding slightly, "if you're not busy... my feet are kind of killing me."

Involuntarily, his gaze swept over her. "Looks like someone had plans tonight."

Right, she was supposed to be sad that he had left her, with a deep breath, Chloe nodded and looked down at herself, " _had_ is right..."

He winced inwardly at that. "His loss," he said, his voice quieter than before.

Chloe nodded a little and shrugged, "he's a really nice guy, I don't think he would have just left like that without good reason."

Oliver paused. "Not if he had any brains at all," he agreed. "Let's get you home."

"Thank you," Chloe told him, stepping closer to him.

"Where are we heading?" he asked, even though he knew. He wound his arm around her waist.

She wrapped her free arm around his neck and looked up at him, "MetU, north dorms."

Nodding, he fired an anchor line to the building across the street and they were propelled upward and onto one of the dormitory roofs.

Chloe held on to him tightly, holding her breath but this time, she kept her eyes open.

He grinned down at her as he carefully set her on her feet, his hands resting on her hips.

She looked up at him but didn't let go of him, she could kind of see his chin and could tell he was smiling, "what's so amusing, Arrow?"

"Not a thing," he told her, his grin widening a little. "Which building is yours?"

Even though she knew he knew, she still had to take a moment to look around and situate herself, she wasn't used to going to her room via the roof after all, "that one," she told him, pointing at the building across from the one they were standing.

"Is your window open?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Chloe blinked at the question and nodded a little, looking up at him, so much for not wanting him to see the inside of her messy dorm, "second floor."

He fired a zip line right to her window and grinned, winding his arm around her once more. "Hold on," he told her before sending them flying down the line and directly into her room.

She winced the second they landed because her room was even worse than she remembered and this time, she couldn't even blame Clark for it, "it's hm, usually not this bad," she lied as she reluctantly dropped her arm from around his shoulder.

"Messy room's not a crime," he told her with amusement as he set her on her feet. "But you might want to be careful about leaving your window open. Never know who might be lurking."

"I'm on the second floor," she told him, watching him closely, "not many people, other than maybe you, could make their way into my room."

"Better safe than sorry," he said sincerely, heading for the window once more.

Chloe dropped the take out and her purse on the bed then frowned as she saw him leaving, "Arrow?"

He paused, turning to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks," she told him again, smiling softly, "for the ride and for repeatedly saving me."

A smile touched his lips. "My pleasure," he told her, lifting his hand in a wave before vanishing from sight once more.

She walked up to the window and watched as he made his way up to the roof, smiling and taking a deep breath, she just hoped his alter ego didn't feel too bad about leaving her and actually called her in the morning.

* * *

Though he was up by seven the next morning, he waited until nearly noon before he finally picked up the phone and dialed her number, chewing the inside of his cheek uncertainly, fingers tapping lightly on his desk.

Chloe sighed, glaring at her laptop from her desk at the Tribune and picking up her phone without taking her eyes off of the screen, "yeah?"

He was quiet for a few seconds. "Chloe?" There was uncertainty in his voice. She hadn't seemed pissed when he'd escorted her home as Green Arrow the night before, but who knew how she really felt?

She paused when she recognized his voice and stood up instantly, "oh, hi," she said, moving out of the Tribune quickly and not using his name on purpose since she didn't want her co-workers to pay attention to her conversation.

"I'm really sorry about last night," he said sincerely. "There was an emergency at work--"

Chloe smiled softly at that and took a deep breath, "I kinda figured..."

"I really didn't want to leave," Oliver told her softly.

She pursed her lips together, considering the best way to reply, she _should_ be mad at him, or at least, he expected her to, but she had a hard time pretending to be when she knew the truth, "why didn't you come back?" She asked, feeling horrible for making him feel bad.

His chest tightened a little. "It was a long night," he told her, guilt in his voice. "I'm sorry I didn't make it back, Chloe. I hope you'll forgive me and give me a chance to make it up to you."

Her own chest tightened too, she just couldn't bring herself to make him feel bad any longer, "okay," she agreed quietly.

"Really?" His eyes widened a little.

"Yeah," she couldn't help but smile at the surprise in his voice, "I mean, you're a busy guy and at least you paid the tab before you left," she teased quietly.

A smile tugged at his mouth. "Maybe we could do brunch tomorrow?" he suggested.

Well at least in the middle of the day, he was probably less likely to have to run out for an emergency, she was just sorry she wasn't going to get to see him sooner than that, "okay, that sounds good. What time?"

"You can pick the time and the place. How's that?" He smiled a bit more.

Chloe could hear the excitement in his voice and she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach, "eleven thirty and I'll do some research on where?" She suggested.

"Sounds great," he told her, relaxing in his chair once more.

"Okay," she smiled, chewing on her bottom lip, "I will see you tomorrow, then."

"All right. Just call or text whenever you decide where you'd like to go." He paused. "Are you at home?" 

"I will," she told him then shook her head, "no, I'm at the Tribune," she paused, "you?"

"I'm at my place," he admitted.

"Oh, no work today?" She asked curiously.

"Not until this evening," he told her.

Chloe smirked a little at that, apparently he was taking the day off as CEO, "that's nice, do you usually work nights?" She couldn't help herself.

Oliver paused, his eyebrows furrowing a little. "More often than most CEO's?"

"I get it," Chloe told him, smiling softly, "I rather work during the night than during the day myself."

"You would?" He cocked his head to the side even as he used one of his other phones to send a text message.

"Yeah," she told him, "I'm more productive at night."

"Is that a journalist thing or just a Chloe Sullivan thing?" he asked curiously, a smile tugging at his mouth.

"A Chloe Sullivan thing," she told him, "I'm usually the last one to leave work."

"Dedicated. That's good to know," he said quietly, sending the text and grinning.

She smiled a little, "I guess we both are," she said lightly.

"Dedicated to working at night," he responded, hearing a faint wooshing sound on the other end of the line. He grinned.

Chloe paused a the noise, it sounded oddly like Clark, so much that she actually looked around, "what was that?"

"What was what?" he asked innocently.

"A noise..." she told him quietly then shook her head, "I must be hearing things," because Clark was definitely not in Oliver's apartment.

"Well, you're at work. Probably some kind of background noise."

"Yeah," Chloe squinted, "you're probably right..."

"So I'll be waiting to hear from you about tomorrow," he told her.

"You will," she assured him, "give me about... half an hour or so."

"Will do. Talk to you soon." He smiled softly and hung up the phone.

"Bye," she told him, hanging up the phone too and smiling as she took a deep breath then walked back into the room and to her desk, she had the feeling it was going to be pointless to try to work until tomorrow.

Oliver grinned a little as he set both phones down on his desk and looked up at Bart. "Interested in something a little less business-like and a little more personal?"

Bart squinted and looked at Oliver for a moment, smirking, "does it involve strippers?"

He rolled his eyes. "No. But it does involve delivering some flowers."

He sighed and shrugged a little, "not nearly as much fun, but I guess, I'm bored anyway."

Oliver shook his head with amusement. "There will be pizza in it for you in addition to the usual payment." He leaned forward, scribbled down an address, Chloe's name, and the type of flowers he wanted Bart to pick up.

" _Now_ we're talking," Bart told him, smirking and folding the paper without looking at it, "I'll be right back."

Grinning, he picked up his phone once more, this time to order pizza, and watched as Bart headed away.

* * *

"Chloe?" Bart called as he poked his head inside the Tribune office, holding a huge bouquet of mixed flowers in shades of red, if he was going to pick the flowers, he was gonna go with his favorite color, besides, what kind of girl didn't like red?

"Yes?" Chloe asked, finishing typing then turning to look at the door, her eyes widening as she looked at the flowers, which were mostly covering the delivery boy's face, she stood up, blinking, "oh..."

His eyes widened a little as he lowered the flowers and found himself staring at Chloe _Sullivan_. "Hello, Gorgeous." He grinned at her.

She frowned a little as he looked and sounded familiar, then blinked, eyes widening, " _Bart_?" She asked, more than a little surprised.

At her recognition, his eyes brightened. "The one and only." He bowed a little and held the flowers out to her.

Chloe walked over to him and took the flowers from him, careful not to drop them, she was definitely confused, "hm, thank you."

"They're from Oliver," he said, raising his eyebrows. "But if you ask me, you should ditch him and hang out with me instead." He flashed her a grin.

"You know Oliver?" She asked, sincerely surprised.

"Yeah?" He hesitated a moment. "I work for him."

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little, "oh, that's nice for you, what do you do?"

"Deliver stuff," he said, grinning again.

"Should have guessed as much," Chloe smiled, looking down at the flowers again.

"I've never delivered flowers for him though." He smiled. "What do you say you ditch work and we go grab some dinner?"

She raised her eyebrows and shook her head a little, "thanks Bart, but I have a lot to catch up on," she smiled, "besides, I don't think your boss would appreciate it."

Bart shrugged a little. "Had to try, Beautiful." He winked at her.

Chloe smiled at him, "good to see you again."

"Here's hoping I see you again." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it before heading out of the office.

She smiled, watching him as he left then shook her head, looking back down at the flowers, she had the feeling she'd have constant butterflies in her stomach until after her date with Oliver.


	8. Chapter 8

Chloe stared up at the Clocktower for a full moment, her eyes wide as she gave this a second longer's consideration before shaking her head, she had no other options, Clark needed help, help that went beyond her capabilities, and she wasn't going to deny him that help because it might mess things up with Oliver.

With a deep breath, she pushed her way through the rotating doors and to the elevator, he had mentioned living in the penthouse on the top floor, so she pressed it and waited as the elevator ascended, then held her breath as it stopped and made a buzzing sound.

He had been halfway to his secret room to get ready for patrolling that night when he heard the buzzing. Frowning a little, he moved over and glanced at the screen. He paused for only a moment before pressing the intercom button. "Come on up," he told her, raising his eyebrows.

Chloe looked in the direction of the camera and nodded, "thanks," she said, waiting until the elevator doors slid open then pushing the gate and stepping into the penthouse a second later.

"Chloe." His eyebrows were furrowed with confusion, and there was a hint of worry in his expression because she seemed...shaken. "Are you all right?"

"I need your help," she told him, her eyes wide as she turned to look at him, "please don't freak out."

He blinked, shaking his head a little and resting his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, whatever it is, consider it done. What's wrong?"

She chewed down on her bottom lip, they hadn't even had their second date yet and she was already dragging him out of the superhero closet, kicking and screaming, her stomach tightened, she was pretty sure he was going to freak out regardless, she knew Clark would if someone he barely knew found out his secret, "I need... the Green Arrow kind of help," she said slowly, staring up at him.

Oliver stared back at her blankly. "What?"

"I know you're the Green Arrow, Oliver," she told him quietly, "I have since Dark Thursday."

He let his hands drop from her shoulders, still staring at her. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, letting out a breath. "I suck at the double identity thing."

"I wouldn't have been able to guess if you hadn't saved me as Robin Hood the first time around," she admitted quietly, "and I didn't want to tell you I knew because I didn't want you to feel exposed or make you uncomfortable but... I had no choice."

He searched her eyes, not quite processing what she was telling him. "What's going on?"

"My friend Clark was kidnapped," she told him quietly, "I tracked him down, but I have no way of breaking him out, not on my own."

"Why would someone kidnap your friend?" he asked immediately, frowning.

"Lex Luthor wants to experiment on him." She whispered.

He sucked in a breath, his jaw tightening. "Do you have any idea where Lex has him?" he asked, moving away from her and over to his desk. He quickly picked up his cell phone and sent a text to Bart.

"It's one of Lex's labs, more like a warehouse location up top and it conceals one of the Cadmus labs, we call it 33.1, it's where Lex experiments on people with abilities," she explained, all in one breath.

His head whipped around and he stared at her. "You know about Lex's 33.1 projects?"

Chloe blinked, her eyes wide as she stared at him, " _you_ know about them too?"

Oliver held her gaze for a long moment, drawing in a breath. "I think that you and I are going to need to talk after we rescue your friend Clark."

Her chest clenched a little at his choice of words but she nodded and took a deep breath, "after," she agreed, "we need to get him out."

"We will," he said quietly. "I promise we will. But I'm going to need some help." He exhaled slowly. "Guys?" he called toward the hallway.

She blinked, she'd been sure they were alone, so when she saw two other _familiar_ faces coming out of the rooms, she still, "Arthur? Victor?"

Oliver turned to look at her once more, his eyes wide. " _Seriously?_ "

Arthur grinned at her. "Hey, Chloe. How's it going?"

Chloe smiled a little at AC then looked from the two of them to Oliver, her eyes wide, "I assume Bart is working as more than just a delivery boy?"

"You know _Bart_ too?" He stared at her.

"Yeah," she told him, "I was surprised to see him when he came by earlier..."

"All caught up now, Boss?" Victor asked with a small smirk.

Oliver shot him a look. "Then I'm going to venture a guess and say that you guys know Chloe's friend Clark."

AC raised an eyebrow. "You could say that. How is Clark?"

"In trouble," Chloe said, glancing at at Oliver then back at the boys, "Lex has him in his latest 33.1."

Vic's eyes narrowed. "Then let's go in and get him out."

Oliver looked at Victor and AC, then back at Chloe. "Suit up, Boys."

Chloe held her breath, looking at Oliver and nodding a little, "thank you."

"It's what we do," he told her, holding her gaze for a moment before heading to his secret room and opening the door.

She gasped quietly, her eyes widening as she saw all of his crossbows and arrows and quivers as well as his uniform.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, turning to look at her and holding his hand out wordlessly.

Chloe blinked, a little confused but took a step closer and took his hand.

Oliver flipped the other light on and gently tugged her inside the room silently.

Her eyes widened even more if that was possible as she looked around, taking another step inside with him, "wow..." she whispered.

He watched her for a moment. "It doesn't bother you?"

"Bother me?" She frowned, looking at him, confused, "why would it bother me?"

"It would bother a lot of people." He gazed at her.

"I'm not a lot of people," she told him quietly, looking away from all his gadgets and up at him, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, I didn't want to scare you away."

A short chuckle escaped him involuntarily.

"What?" She asked, frowning a little.

"You apologizing to me for not saying anything because you didn't want to scare me away." He shook his head a little. "It's just a little ironic."

"Well," she took a deep breath, smiling a little, "I know how big of a deal it is to share a secret like this with someone, especially someone you barely know, I didn't want you to think I was some crazy stalker who was about to expose you."

"I didn't think that," he whispered.

"I'm glad," she whispered back to him, "because I'm not."

He drew in a breath and moved closer to her, lifting a hand to cup her cheek as he gazed at her intently.

Chloe held her breath, her heart beating fast against her chest as she stared up at him.

Oliver dipped his head and kissed her softly on the mouth, closing his eyes for a moment.

She blinked a couple of times before closing her eyes as she kissed him back, lifting a hand to his arm for balance, her heart was beating about as fast as Bart could run, Oliver definitely didn't seem bothered by the fact that she knew the truth, so that was at least a good start.

After a moment he slowly pulled away. "We'll talk when I get back?" His voice was quiet.

"Yeah," she said quietly, smiling a little then looking out of the room, "can I use that computer to show you guys exactly where he is?" She was really just impressed she was able to think at all, considering...

"Welcome aboard, Watchtower," he said softly, a smile tugging at his mouth.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, "Watchtower? I guess I can live with that."

He winked at her and then turned to grab his uniform, pulling it off the hanger.

She stepped outside the secret room and made a beeline to the computer, doing her best to focus, they had to get Clark back, they would have time for everything else later.

* * *

The ride back to the clock tower was quiet, but it wasn't a comfortable quiet. It was an awkward silence and Oliver had the very distinct feeling the other man was sizing him up. He was relieved when they finally got back to the clock tower and he spotted Chloe. "We're back."

Chloe knew, because Oliver's amazing computer system allowed her to track them all, well she guessed it was some kind of chip in their costume, but still, she'd been staring and exploring the computer since the mission ended, at Oliver's voice, however, she turned around, her eyes widened when she saw both Oliver and Clark standing there, "you're okay," she smiled at Clark, looking up at him but not running to hug him because she thought it might make things... awkward.

Clark simply nodded, still trying to understand, "yeah, I'm okay."

Oliver gazed at her for a moment, pushing his hood back and off, then taking off his sunglasses. He met her eyes for a moment, offered her a small, somewhat uncertain smile, then headed for the secret room once more, stepping inside and closing the door behind him to give them a little privacy.

Chloe looked over her shoulder where Oliver disappeared, her stomach clenching at the uncertanty in his expression then she took a couple of steps toward Clark, "I'm sorry it took so long, I knew I couldn't go in by myself..."

"It's okay, Chloe," he said quietly. "They saved my life. Thanks to you." He moved over to her and hugged her.

She relaxed a little and hugged him back, swallowing hard as she pulled back a moment later, "did Lex get anything?"

"I don't think so," he said, shaking his head and gazing at her. "Especially not once they blew the building up."

"Good," she breathed, letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, "I'm glad everyone is okay."

Clark was silent for a moment and he cast a glance toward the room where Oliver had gone.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder then looked back at Clark, "what?"

He looked back at her once more. "It's just...Oliver _Queen_ is the Green Arrow."

"Yeah," she pursed her lips together, "I've known for a while..." she admitted quietly.

He stared at her. "You _have_?"

"I figured it out on my own," she admitted, "during Dark Thursday, but I didn't tell him I knew until tonight."

"You didn't tell _me_ either," he said, frowning.

"You're kidding, right?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, "it's not my secret to tell, Clark."

"Yeah, but you know I wouldn't say anything, Chloe," he whispered, shaking his head.

"I do, Clark," she told him, "but it still wouldn't be right."

Clark looked at her unhappily, a pout forming on his lips.

"Am I interrupting?" Oliver asked as he stepped out of the room a moment later, back in regular clothes once more. He looked between them, his chest tightening a little.

Chloe sighed softly at Clark then shook her head, turning to look at Oliver and smiling slightly, "no, of course not."

He smiled back, but it was faint. Then he shifted his gaze to Clark. "You've got some seriously cool abilities," he said sincerely.

"Thanks," Clark said, looking between Chloe and Oliver, "and thanks for your help."

"Not a problem," he told Clark with a small smile. "Do either of you want something to drink?"

"No," Clark shook his head, looking at Chloe, "we should get going, I'll give you a ride back."

Oliver paused at that, looking at Chloe, as well, and falling silent.

Chloe stilled and looked between the two of them, she might have forgot to mention to Clark she had gone on a date the previous night and she had definitely forgotten to mention she had a massive crush on Oliver, "I've got my car," she told Clark, looking at him, "and I need to talk to Oliver about some things before I go, I'll be okay, you go ahead."

Clark frowned a little. "Need to talk to him about what?" he asked, dropping his voice a little.

"I'll talk to you later, Clark," Chloe told him, holding his gaze and hoping he'd take the hint.

His frown deepened and he cast a suspicious look at Oliver before glancing at Chloe once more. "I'll call you," he told her before reluctantly heading for the elevator.

She nodded slightly, sighing relieved as he walked out then pausing for a moment and turning over at Oliver, her heart suddenly picking up again.

Oliver watched him go, raising his eyebrows a little. "He's...protective."

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, "sorry. We kinda grew up together, we're protective of each other."

"It's all right," he told her, shaking his head. He focused his gaze on her once more. "You did a hell of a job reading all those schematics tonight. Like you've been doing it for years. Which, now I can't help but wonder if you have."

"Kinda," she smiled a little, "the editor's office wasn't the first place I've ever broken into," she admitted quietly.

A smile tugged at his mouth at that admission. "Somehow I'm not entirely surprised by that."

Chloe chewed on her bottom lip and shrugged, smirking softly, "I've been helping Clark for a while and before that, I went on missions of my own to find stories."

"Trouble magnet," he said lightly, taking a step toward her.

Her stomach tightened and she shrugged, taking a step toward him too, "does it count if I go searching for it?"

"Absolutely," he said, nodding and meeting her gaze.

"I guess I can say the same about you, then," she smirked a little, lowering her voice as she looked up at him.

"I'm not denying it," he murmured, closing the rest of the distance between them, his heart beating quickly in his chest.

Chloe hesitantly lifted a hand to his arm, looking down at it then looking up at him again, her own heart speeding up even more and the simple closeness to him seemed to waken her entire body, "that wouldn't be fair."

"No," he agreed, his breath hitching when she laid her hand on his arm. He reached out, as well, lifting a hand to her cheek and shifting closer to her.

Her mouth went dry instantly and she swallowed hard, "you're okay with me knowing, then?" She whispered, barely hearing her own words as she searched his eyes.

Oliver nodded wordlessly, his thumb moving lightly over her cheek. "It'll sure make this a lot easier on both of us," he whispered back.

Chloe leaned into his touch a little and nodded slightly, "like last night," she smiled a little.

A sheepish grin touched his lips. "I really didn't want to leave you there, Chloe."

"I know," she smiled a little more, "but you had to, why do you think I suddenly felt like going to the bathroom and giving you the perfect opportunity to sneak out?"

He ducked his head, shaking it a little and then kissed her softly. "You're an amazing woman," he whispered.

Her heart skipped a beat and she licked her lips when he pulled back, "you're an amazing man."

"I think we could make an amazing team." His gaze was intense.

Her eyes brightened at that and she stared at him for a long moment, "I think I'd like to give it a try."

"Me too." He smiled at her, his eyes bright, as well.

Chloe grinned softly, her cheeks flushing a little as she tiptoed and pressed her lips to his once more.

Oliver tugged her closer and returned the kiss without hesitation. He had a feeling they would make an amazing team on more than one level.


	9. Chapter 9

"I guess everything changed for me when I got stranded on the island," Oliver told her as he sat on the sofa with her, an arm around her shoulders as she rested her head against his chest. His voice was quiet, but open. Honest. He rubbed her arm up and down absently with one hand as he spoke. "It put everything into perspective for me."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed quietly, still surprised by how comfortable it was to be sitting there with him, with his arm around her, her arm around him, felt like they had known each other for a long time and she had only ever seen him a handful of times in her life, but she supposed it helped that they had so much in common, "finding out Clark's secret was what did it for me."

"How did you find out?" he asked curiously, glancing down at her. "Did he tell you?"

"No," she told him quietly, "Clark's, kind of ex-girlfriend decided to expose him to me, she tricked him into grabbing a car mid-air, like he was grabbing a volleyball."

His eyes widened a little at that. "Wow." He was silent for a moment. "For what it's worth? He's extremely lucky to have you in his life."

Chloe smiled softly and shrugged a little, "he saved my life a lot over the years, the least I can do is help him protect his secret."

"Not just that," he said quietly, gazing at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly, lifting her head to look up at him.

"To have someone in your life who knows that kind of thing about you and accepts it? Accepts you for who you are, even if the world might not?" He held her gaze. "It's precious. Invaluable."

She watched him for a moment then nodded a little, "we all have our own issues and secrets, I guess," she said quietly.

Oliver nodded, as well. "We do," he murmured.

"That's why there's no point not accepting other people's," she added quietly, then wrinkled her nose, "unless other people is Lex Luthor."

His jaw tightened just a little at the name and he blew out a breath. "And that puts you ahead of a lot of people," he told her.

Chloe saw the tension in his face and raised her eyebrows a little, "how long have you been destroying 33.1s?"

"About a year," he said quietly. "Since I found Victor in Star City and he told me what Lex was up to."

"Right after we met Victor then," Chloe told him, nodding a little.

"I guess so," he said, watching her. "When I filled Bart in, he wasn't surprised. And neither was AC."

Chloe smiled a little, "I'm glad you helped Bart," she said sincerely.

"He's a good kid," Oliver said with a small smile. "He just...needed a little guidance." He shrugged.

"Exactly," Chloe agreed, smiling softly, "getting him to agree to get that guidance was the tricky part, I'm glad someone got through to him."

Amusement twinkled in his eyes. "Money and food generally works pretty well."

"Ah," she grinned, "we lacked the former."

He chuckled softly at that. "I think he'd have happily stuck around if you'd taken a personal interest."

Chloe grinned a little and shook her head, "well if I had, this would be really awkward." She teased.

"Incredibly," he agreed, nodding with a grin.

She smiled brightly and nodded a little, looking up at him, "so, can you tell me what you were _really_ doing in that party now?" She told him.

"Investigating," he told her quietly, watching her. "I was in town for that speaking engagement, and I heard some rumors about weird things going on at that sorority and figured I should check into it."

"I knew it!" She said brightly, smiling up at him, "that's why I was there too."

Oliver grinned at that. "I'd say I was shocked, but why lie at this point?"

Chloe grinned softly and nodded, shrugging slightly, "no reason to..." she told him quietly, then kept her eyes on him, "I'm glad things worked out the way they did."

"So am I," he said softly, reaching out and tucking some hair behind her ear.

She smiled softly at that, leaning in and kissing him softly then pulling back, "this is really nice," she said sincerely.

He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "I won't always be in Metropolis." His voice was quiet and he opened his eyes once more to look at her. "But I can be here a lot." He paused. "Will that be enough?"

"Oh," Chloe paused and blinked a couple of times, pulling his back just enough to look at him, "I hadn't thought of that."

"It's just...between QI and this whole saving the world thing..." He gazed at her intently. "Lex has 33.1's started up all over the world, Chloe."

"I know," she told him quietly, nodding a little, "and like I said this morning, you're a busy man, I understand that..."

He shifted closer to her, watching her. "Chloe, I like you a lot. Probably more than you realize."

"I like you too," she said sincerely, although all of her instincts were telling her to run, she was fighting them. Even with the distance thing, this was too good to be true, a man like him being interested in her, possibly having feelings for her, she knew it was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down, she wasn't this lucky, she had never been and eventually he was going to find someone more interesting than she was and he wouldn't think twice about moving on.

Oliver studied her, then reached out and placed a hand on her arm once more. "You're welcome to come with us on any missions you're available for," he whispered. "And you're always welcome in Star City with me or...anywhere else I am. I know you have school and the Tribune."

Chloe pursed her lips together and nodded slightly, looking down at his hand, as much as it would be easier to end this before it started, she couldn't bring herself to, so she just nodded a little, "I'd like that."

A smile tugged at his mouth. "Yeah?" He ducked his head to catch her eyes once more.

"Yeah," she whispered quietly, pursing her lips together and looking up at him, "even if it's probably a stupid idea..."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you say that?"

She pursed her lips even tighter, she hadn't meant to say the words out loud, "I don't know..." she said quietly, "because it's too good to be true?" If they were being honest with each other...

He held his breath for a moment, staring at her. "Chloe, I've felt a pull toward you since that night at the party. Don't you think it's a little weird that we just kept bumping into one another? I mean, Metropolis is a huge city. What are the odds of that happening, really?"

"Exactly," she told him, "it's too perfect, feels right, feels comfortable," she said to him, watching him, "what are the odds of things staying this way?"

Oliver was silent for a few seconds and he shifted closer to her. "He really did a number on you. Didn't he?" His voice was soft.

Chloe stilled, blinking and looking up at him.

"It's okay, Chloe," he whispered. "I kinda suspected since that first night."

"I'm not surprised," she told him, taking a deep breath and licking her dry lips as she looked away then back at him, "I haven't really been interested in anyone else until you," she told him and although this all sounded crazy and she probably shouldn't be telling him all this up front, she couldn't seem to stop herself.

His chest tightened a little. "How uh--how long have you had feelings for him?" he asked quietly.

She sighed softly and shook her head a little, "I really don't think we should be talking about this."

"Why not?" He gazed at her.

"Because..." she shifted a little on the couch, "I don't want to make things awkward and, honestly? It doesn't matter, Oliver. Clark and I never happened and we never will, he's my best friend and that's it." she looked at him for a moment then lowered her voice, "it's hard to move on when you have no one else looking at you twice and that's not the case anymore."

Oliver was silent for a moment. "The guys you grew up around are all idiots," he said seriously.

Chloe took a deep breath and smiled a little, nodding, "and you're not."

He smirked a little. "Not about this anyway." He lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her softly.

She kissed him back and relaxed a little, surprised that even with all of that, she still hadn't scared him away, maybe there was some future in this after all.

* * *

Chloe had ended up falling asleep on Oliver's couch with him, they had talked until five in the morning and eventually they had both passed out, while still fully clothed. Then when they got up, they had their brunch as planned, except Chloe didn't have time for the two hour wardrobe freak out as she had planned, she was just wearing last night's jeans and shirt and still, everything had been perfectly comfortable and great. She still kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but she decided to enjoy herself as much as she could while she could.

Then Oliver had dropped her off at her car and on the way to the dorm, she'd called Clark and asked him to meet her there. As she made her way up the stairs, she knew he was probably already in there, waiting for her and she was not looking forward to this conversation, but she knew it was necessary.

His eyes were wide as he sat on the edge of her bed, waiting for her. "You were out all _night_?"

She took a deep breath when he asked the question before she was fully inside the dorm and took her time to close and lock the door behind herself, "yeah."

Clark simply stared at her, mouth hanging open.

Chloe rolled her eyes, "Oliver and I were talking and we fell asleep, Clark. I didn't sleep with him."

He relaxed a little at that. "Oh."

"But I am seeing him," she blurted out, then stilled, watching his reaction closely. She had never had to tell Clark she was seeing someone before and somehow she was more nervous now than she would be when she told her dad, if things worked out.

He stared at her, bewildered. "What? Chloe..." He shook his head. "This is a bad idea."

"I thought so too," she told him then shook her head, "but I really like him, Clark, and he seems to like me too," which was a big step up from her previous non-relationship, "and I'm willing to give it a try."

Clark rose to his feet. "Chloe, I spent half the night reading up about this guy. He's not good for you."

"And I have known him for about six months and I have been reading up on him since, no offense Clark, but I think I know him better than you do," she told him, keeping her voice light. 

"He's older than you," he pointed out.

"I know that," she told him, biting back a comment about him matching her level of maturity, "the age difference isn't an issue for either one of us."

"He's a player." He frowned, looking at her worriedly.

Chloe took a deep breath and looked up at him, "look, Clark, I know you're just trying to look out for me and I appreciate that, you know I do," she said sincerely, "but I know everything the papers said about him and I know the _real_ him too and I'm willing to give it a try, my mind is made up and maybe you'll be right, maybe he will break my heart, but I won't know if I don't give it a shot."

Clark stared at her for a long moment, then sighed softly. "All right."

She relaxed at his agreement and smiled softly, nodding, "thank you, for worrying." 

"Always," he told her quietly.

Chloe nodded a little then hesitated before stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around him, this had definitely been easier than she expected although she guessed it did help that she had been able to predict Clark's reaction so well and had prepared her little speech beforehand. She knew Clark wouldn't let it go so easily, but this was a good start.


	10. Chapter 10

Oliver had just finished patrol and returned to his apartment that night when he heard the elevator doors open. He raised his eyebrows, and turned, surprised to see Clark Kent standing there. Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. "Clark," he said uncertainly.

Clark took a deep breath and slid his hands in his pockets, "you and I should talk."

"Would this be about the whole superhero business or is this about Chloe?" he asked, watching him intently.

"Chloe," he told Oliver.

"I thought it might be," he admitted, heading toward the kitchen even as he removed his glasses. "You want something to drink? Water? Tea?"

"No, I won't be long," Clark told him, but didn't follow him.

Oliver grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and returned to the other room, unscrewing the lid and taking a drink, motioning toward the sofa. "Make yourself comfortable."

Clark shook his head, refusing again, "no, I'm leaving soon," he repeated.

He sighed inwardly. "So I guess we're not going to give this whole friendship thing a shot," he remarked.

"That's not what this is about," Clark said, frowning oddly, "if you hurt her, in any way..."

"Yeah, see, it is." Oliver looked at him intently. "You're making assumptions about me without knowing me at all, which indicates you have no interest in getting to know me or having any kind of friendship with me. Which, all right, fine, if that's what you want. But before you give me the 'I'll bend you in half like a pretzel if you hurt Chloe' speech, you should know that I care about her very much and I have absolutely no intentions of hurting her in any way."

Clark stared at Oliver for a moment, blinked, "she's my best friend, I have to look out for her."

He nodded a little. "I got it."

"And while I don't agree with your methods, you and your team did help me and I am thankful for that." Clark added.

At that, Oliver arched an eyebrow. "My methods?" he echoed.

"Stealing things and blowing up buildings," Clark said, pulling his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms over his chest.

He was almost amused. Almost. "Well, Clark, unfortunately justice tends to fall in shades of gray rather than black and white."

"Maybe the way you see it," Clark said blankly.

"The way it _is_ ," Oliver said matter-of-factly. "Laws don't touch people like Lex Luthor and even you have to know that."

"It doesn't mean you should _break_ them to get to him, Oliver," Clark said tightly, "if you do, you're just like him." 

At that, his eyes narrowed. "No, if I was kidnapping people and experimenting on them for the fun of it and calling it science, then I would be just like him. So if you're suggesting the team stop what we're doing, it's not going to happen."

"No, I'm suggesting you do what you feel is right and I'll do what I think is right," he said tightly, "but Chloe better not get involved in what you're doing."

"The difference between you and I, Clark...is that I actually believe that Chloe's capable of making her own decisions," he said, raising an eyebrow at the other man, not looking the least bit intimidated.

"I know she is," Clark told him, his own eyes narrowing, "but she doesn't always make the best decisions." He said pointedly.

He paused at that, his jaw tightening a little. "Who does?" he responded evenly. "I mean, considering you headed off to 33.1 without any backup knowing there was the possibility of meteor rock being around...I'd say we're all entitled to make mistakes and not be judged for them, wouldn't you?"

"I can't get hurt the way you people can," Clark said simply, his jaw tightening.

"You people?" he echoed. "Watch it, Clark. Sounding a little holier-than-thou right now."

"It's the truth, Oliver," he said blankly, "but this isn't why I'm here," he took a deep breath, "if _anything_ happens to Chloe, you'll be the one answering for it."

"Have you?" Oliver couldn't help but ask him.

"Have I what?"

"Answered for anything that's happened to Chloe?" he asked, watching him intently.

"Yes, I have," Clark told him, his jaw clenching even tighter than before, "not that that is any of your business."

"It is, actually. Because if you're going to come into my house and threaten _me_ for the possibility of doing something you've already done, then you better be prepared to do the same." Oliver's voice was tense.

"Chloe and I have been best friends for over half of our lives, Oliver," Clark said tightly, "she barely knows you."

"You really don't know how well she knows me," he responded. "And FYI? I've saved her life a couple of times in the time I _have_ known her. And yours, by the way, in case you're forgetting last night already. So why don't you chill out and have a little faith in someone besides yourself?"

"I will when you prove that you will respect her instead of treating her like you seem to treat women."

And there it was. His jaw tightened at Clark's words. "The key word for you in that sentence is _seem_. And I don't need to prove anything to _you_. I think you know the way out."

Clark's eyes narrowed at him, "consider this your warning," he said, before speeding out.

Oliver glared after him. So much for friendship, he thought.

* * *

Chloe was both extremely excited and anxious as she looked out the Clocktower window and saw Oliver's orange car pulling into the parking lot, it had been a whole month since they started seeing each other, and they had been apart for the last three weeks while she had finals and he had businesses to take care of in other parts of the country.

They kept in touch, of course, with at least one phonecall a day and numerous text messages and emails, but now he was finally back in town and she couldn't wait to see him again. When he called to let her know he'd be getting there today, at eight, and asked her if she wanted to meet him at the Clocktower, she didn't think twice before saying yes, so as soon as her classes were over for the day, she made her way to his place, where she had been impatiently waiting for the last hour.   
He made his way up the elevator and into the apartment a few moments later, his face brightening the instant he spotted her. "I knew there was a good reason to not jump out the window at my last board meeting," he said with a grin, dropping his luggage on the floor and heading over to her.

Her face lit up too when she saw him and she walked over to him, stopping herself from instantly wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply like she wanted to, "I would have to find a way to kick your ass for that, I hope you know."  
He chuckled softly, winding his arms around her waist and dipping his head to kiss her, closing his eyes.

Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close as she kissed him back, butterflies in her stomach, she hadn't exaggerated in her imagination how good it was to kiss him.

Oliver pulled her a little closer to him, leaning his forehead against hers when the kiss ended. "It's good to be back."

"It's good to have you back," she told him quietly, taking a deep breath and looking up at him.

"I missed you," he said honestly, lifting a hand to her cheek.

"I missed you too," she whispered to him, leaning into his touch.

"How were finals?" he asked, kissing the corner of her mouth softly.

"Not bad," she told him quietly, smirking softly, "better than your board meetings, apparently."

Oliver grinned at that. "Wouldn't take much," he teased, brushing his nose against hers.

Chloe kissed him softly then smiled, cupping the back of his neck, "sounds like you need a break."

"Mm, definitely," he agreed, nodding and kissing her again.

She kissed him back and slid her fingers in his hair, wrapping her arm around his back, their relationship was still so new but they had talked so much in the past month, she felt like they'd been dating for a long time.

He stroked a hand gently down her back as he held her close to him, slowly deepening the kiss.

Chloe made a quiet noise against his mouth as their bodies pressed close together, if this was how their reunion was going to be every time they spent some time apart, maybe this whole long-distance thing wasn't so bad.

After several long moments, he pulled away so they could both breathe again. He grinned at her, his eyes glazed. "So what do you say to dinner and a movie?" he asked.

She licked her lips unconsciously as he pulled away and nodded, smiling brightly, "sounds like a plan, what do you have in mind?"

He smiled back at her. "It's up to you. We could go out, or we could order in."

"Hm," Chloe bit down on her bottom lip, "I'm sure your apartment missed you as much as you did, wouldn't want to leave so shortly after you got here," she smirked.

He smirked back at her. "Plus it is more comfortable than a restaurant and a movie theater..."

"Very much so..." she grinned slowly, looking up at him.

"And more private." He grinned, too, dipping his head to kiss her again.

Chloe kissed him back then grinned, looking up at him, "there's the keyword," she teased, kissing him once more.

"Private?" he asked, sliding a hand into her hair and kissing her again.

"Mhmm," she murmured against his lips.

Oliver tipped her head back just a little, then pressed a kiss to her jaw.

She smiled and lifted her head, rubbing her hand over his back.

"Did I mention I've missed you?" he asked, his voice soft against her skin as he kissed her neck.

Chloe shivered and closed her eyes, nodding a little, "you did, but I think you should show me how much," she said before she could stop herself, her cheeks flushing but she grinned anyway.

He stilled, pulling back to look at her. They hadn't gone there yet. And while he was more than happy to do just that, he wanted to make sure she was really ready for it. "Chloe?" His voice was quiet.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, her eyes a little wide as she looked up at him.

"I'm okay with waiting," he whispered, cupping her cheek.

"Do you want to wait?" She asked, pausing, a little surprised.

A smile tugged at his mouth. "Want is a bit of an overstatement. But I _will_ wait, because you're worth it."

"Oh," she grinned a little and chewed on the inside of her lip, blushing some more and shaking her head, "I wasn't planning on it..."

"I just want you to be sure," he said quietly. "I don't want you to think that _I_ think that's all this is about," he said, motioning between them.

Her face softened at that and she shook her head, "well if it was, you wouldn't have waited a whole month, especially when all you have to do is blink and you can have three hundred women all over you."

"That may be, but you're the only one of them I want," he told her, taking her hand and kissing the palm of it lightly.

"I've been thinking about it for a month," she admitted quietly, cupping his cheek, "but we can just... see what happens."

"No pressure," he murmured, leaning into her touch and kissing her softly.

Chloe smiled softly at that and kissed him back, brushing her thumb against his cheek, she didn't feel pressured at all.

Oliver slid his arms around her once more, pulling her closer to him. "You hungry?" he murmured.

"Yeah," she told him quietly, wrapping her arms around him too and brushing her nose against his.

"What sounds good?" he asked, resting his forehead against hers.

She shrugged a little and pursed her lips together, "I don't know, is there anything in Metropolis you like and haven't had in a while?"

A smile tugged at his mouth. "Pizza," he admitted.

Chloe raised her eyebrows, smiling, "really?"

Oliver grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Yeah, but I could go for just about anything. I'm not that picky, really."

"I would never say no to pizza," she assured him, grinning softly. It was cute that he would choose that out of all the options.

"Cool." He kissed her cheek. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"Some kind of meat," she told him, "pepperoni or sausage, or bacon..."

Oliver grinned. "Or all of the above?"

Chloe grinned at that and nodded, "that's more like it..."

He chuckled as he headed over to grab the telephone.

She took a deep breath and watched him, smiling softly and walking over to the couch, listening as he made the call.

He ordered the pizza and then headed over to the sofa, dropping down beside her. He draped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. "So you're on break now, right?"

"Yep," she told him, smiling and wrapping an arm around him as she looked up at him, "for about ten days."

"Hmm." He smiled down at her, raising his eyebrows a little.

"What?" She asked quietly, cocking her head curiously.

"What would you say if I asked you to come with me on a trip?" he asked.

"Oh?" Chloe raised her eyebrows, "what kind of trip?"

He paused at that, gazing at her. "Just the two of us."

She blinked and chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment, considering, "where to?"

"Anywhere you want to go," he told her. "Doesn't matter to me."

Chloe smiled and shook her head, raising her eyebrows, "no, if you're inviting me to go on a trip, you have to pick where."

"Well..." He shifted so he was facing her better. "It's just that I've been to a lot of places," he said softly. "Is there anyplace you've always to go? Because I'd love to take you someplace."

She pursed her lips together, "I haven't been many places outside of Kansas, only DC and Florida."

Oliver nodded a little, watching her intently. "Which is why I want you to pick."

"I don't know..." she said, squinting a little, "I do want to go see Star City, but I guess that wouldn't be a vacation to you," she said, smiling softly at him.

He smiled. "Plus we'll have plenty of time for that." He lifted a hand to her cheek.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, "someplace where we can just have quiet time?"

He nodded a little, watching her. "Sky's the limit."

"Well," she looked at him, "what is the most gorgeous beach you've ever been to?"

Oliver smiled at that. "Hawaii," he said without hesitation.

Her eyes brightened at that and she nodded, taking a deep breath, "Hawaii, then."

He grinned. "I'll call my pilot and file flight plans. Day after tomorrow work? Gives us time to pack and get ready."

"Sounds good," she told him, nodding, she knew it should feel like it was too soon, but considering things with Oliver felt right from day one, it didn't feel rushed at all.

He dipped his head and kissed her softly, closing his eyes.

Chloe kissed him back and cupped his cheek, closing her eyes too as she pulled him close.

Oliver tugged her gently onto his lap, brushing his nose against hers. It was definitely good to be back.


End file.
